


Hopeful Determination

by Seiji_The_Ice_Drake



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Chara (Undertale) Has Their Own Body, Chara (Undertale) Needs a Hug, Chara (Undertale) Protection Squad, Chara Has Issues, Chara and Sans know each other already, Chara has a new soul virtue, Chara hating all of humanity was an exaggeration on their part, Doggos - Freeform, Female Frisk (Undertale), Flirting, Fluff, Frisk Has Issues, Frisk needs glasses, Gaster is on the sidelines but he is there, Good Chara (Undertale), Good W. D. Gaster, Gradual Attraction, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Is this enough tags?, Light-Hearted, Male Chara (Undertale), Multi, Undertale Pacifist Route, and so does Frisk, at points, charisk, don't forget the spaghetti!, gaster followers only appear in their designated locations, headcanons, minor deltarune references, most people will have some sort of issues, new soul type, no genocide here folks, only hates some of it, puns, the main depictions of violence happens at omega flowey, wait who's the narrator in this?, what else did ya expect?, who knows - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-02
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 66
Words: 205,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27343285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Seiji_The_Ice_Drake/pseuds/Seiji_The_Ice_Drake
Summary: After Chara's unsuccessful attempt at breaking the barrier, he is given a new chance after a brief visitation with the void and six other lost humans. This second chance however sends him on a journey with the undergrounds newest human, Frisk.He discovers that things had changed immensely since his plan, both in years, and in the undergrounds newest human treatment.A re-telling of the classic story filled with new found hope, determination and love as the two wander around a familiar, yet different environment.
Relationships: Alphys/Undyne (Undertale), Chara/Frisk (Undertale)
Comments: 437
Kudos: 127





	1. Prologue

A mountain loomed just overhead. MT Ebott, as it was called. a legend surrounding the mountain stated, _'Any who climbed the mountain, never returned.'_ Eventually, a child decided to run to the mountain, a sense of desperation filling the air as he passed the blurred forest. The child slowed down, when met with a cave entrance. Slowly, he made his way in, and tripped on a vine, plummeting into a nearby hole, into the depths below.

The child found himself inside of the mountain, and within it's earthly prison, he found that he wasn't alone. An entire race of beings, known as Monsters, were trapped with him. Most of them were quite nervous around the child, which he learned was because he was a Human. A member of the race that trapped them to begin with. The only ones who treated him not as something to be feared, but as an equal, was the Royal Family, a trio of goat-like monsters that rule over the underground race, but they acted more like regular citizens than anything else from the child's point of view.

The youngest, Asriel Dreemurr, befriended the human, and the family and treat the child as their own. One day, the child fell ill, and died. For most, the illness was sudden, and heartbreaking. For the child and Asriel, the death was intentional. A way for Asriel to get the child's SOUL, to cross the barrier. A magical seal that trapped everyone underground. The human sacrificed himself, so that the monsters had a chance to be free. All that was needed, were six more SOUL's. Asriel stared up into the sky, his breath taken away by the sight of it all. _The sun is rather bright._

**_Yeah, it gets like that during the summer. Don’t get me started on the heat either! I prefer spring._ **

_So… Did you really want to see the flowers again, or was that just a means for Mom and Dad to let me leave?_

**_…Yes._ **

_Chara, this is a serious question!_ Asriel berated the ghostly thoughts.

**_And that was my serious answer!_ ** Chara shot back. **_Mom and Dad would not have let you leave without a good reason other than, ‘To get six more human SOUL's.’ and the flowers… They’re just really nice. Like sunflowers or daisies, but the way they shine like real gold is amazing!_ **Chara sighed at the mere thought of the flowers.

Asriel rolled his eyes playfully. _You really like plants, don’t you?_

**_Was me happily gardening with Dad not tipping you off on that fact?_ **

_Ok, that’s fair._

**_Anyway, we’ll set my body on the flowers, and enact our plan. Take a right, walk straight and take a left, and then you’ll see a park. It’s really hard to miss the flowers so you’ll know them when you see them._ **

_Good to know..._

Asriel began to follow the path, and Chara was deadly silent. Eventually he sighed. **_We should have waited until night. That way you could see the stars._ **

Asriel chuckled, both in his thoughts and from his actual mouth. _Soon everyone will see them. Right?_

**_I guess._ ** If Chara could shrug, he would. **_Just remember, things won’t be like how they were when humans first fought monsters. They have new technology that… Let’s just say that the new weaponry of humans were made to kill efficiently._ **Asriel went silent. **_Sorry. Just thought I should mention it. It’s not going to be easy, but with your new, pow-ers…_ **

Chara stopped and focused on the small family picnicking in the field. They looked happy. Two kids were frolicking in the golden sea of petals, while the two adults were watching them lovingly. Chara couldn’t smile in his current state, but if he could, he would. He longed for something like that for the longest time before falling into the mountain. The two children looked up at Asriel, who was watching silently. They ran around the monster, eyes wide with wonder and amazement. One ran to grab the parents, while the other looked at the motionless form of Chara’s body, one arm dangling down. The child reached up and held the hand of the dangling arm. They looked at the monster with sadness and whispered. _“I’m sorry.”_

Asriel let out a small smile. The other child returned with their parents, who were staring with wide eyes. The child who brought them to Asriel smiled widely, calling him an ‘Angel’ of some sorts. The one that seemed to be the father approached, and looked at the body. **_Maybe they can handle the rest._ **Chara whispered breathlessly. Asriel didn’t react, but slowly started to kneel down to place Chara’s lifeless body down. He jerked back up when a terrified screech filled the air. A woman far from the group, but close enough to see the corpse screamed violently, reaching for their phone in their purse. **_That’s not good! It’s best we head back underground!_**

_But the-_

**_We’ll come back later! Just go!_ **

Asriel didn’t argue and ran away from the scene. He made it about two feet away before a car showed up. **_RIGHT!_ **Chara spouted, and Asriel followed the order. The monster was detoured into the town, with every onlooker either screaming in horror, or just looking around like someone who just woke up to find their bed was gone from underneath them. Asriel was running out of breath and stopped to catch it, a mere road away from the forest to the mountain. **_Asriel, go!_**

_I need… to catch… my breath first._ Asriel replied, not even commenting on how his thoughts were out of breath.

The monster looked back and saw an unpleasant sight. A group of people from the town, carrying weapons he’d never seen before stared straight at the monster.

**_Guns! This is bad!_ ** Chara commented. The ghostly voice went silent. **_If you want to keep them away, kill one!_ **

_Chara! I-_

**_The leading one! The one with the obnoxious raccoon hat and ragged clothes!_ **

Asriel was frozen like a deer in the headlights. _Chara…_

**_You have the power to do it! Hell, you can probably do some of those ‘God of Absolute Hyperdeath’ moves you keep talking about! Just do it!_ **

_Chara I can’t!_

**_TRUST ME, HE DESERVES IT!_ **Chara’s voice started to shake.

_I-_ Asriel didn’t budge, even after the weapons were pointed in his direction.

**_HE NEEDS TO DIE! AFTER ALL HE PUT ME THROUGH, THE BASTARD DESERVES TO DIE!!_ **

_Wait, is he-_

The mob fired their rifles at Asriel, who’s first instinct was to protect Chara’s body, and the bullets collided with his backside. The young prince didn’t turn back to the crowd. He just started to walk back to the mountain, a sad smile making it’s way to his face. Chara was silent for half of the walk back. Eventually, his voice made it’s way back, shaking.

**_I-I’m sorry Az. I j-just lost my t-temper after seeing h-him. B-but you c-can still he-heal back up! With yours and m-mom’s healing magic c-combined, you’ll be a-all better!_ **

“It wasn’t your fault Chara.” Asriel said aloud.

**_No. No, it was my fault! If I didn’t lose my temper we’d been back without injuries! If I didn’t practically force you into this, we’d be back home eating pie!_ ** Chara’s voice started to have a tinge of panic in it. **_If I… If I didn’t project my hatred of that man onto all of humanity, I wouldn’t have thought about this plan! If… If I didn’t survive that fall… You’d be safe._ **Asriel didn’t say anything. He just kept walking. The closer they got to the underground, the slower he became, but he persisted. He passed through the barrier once more, and made his way to the throne room/garden. His movements became sluggish as he passed through the entrance door. Asgore and Toriel saw their son, and rushed over to him. **_Now ask for healing! If they can patch you up, you’ll be good as new! Asriel please…_** Asriel didn’t respond. He just collapsed to his knees, and gently set Chara’s body down. **_Az, please. Just ask for healing… please…_**

Toriel was about to heal her son regardless, but he had just moved her hands away and smiled at his parents. He dissolved into dust shortly after. Chara was horrified when he saw the combined Soul appear before them, looking as if it was going to break. **_No. Nonononononono!_ ** Chara reached out to the Soul. **_STOP!_ **It shattered. Chara found himself in a disturbing darkness near instantly. Chara looked around, but there was nothing in sight. Just a disturbing darkness that surrounded him at all angles. He looked at his arms and legs, and all he saw was a fading red outline. He collapsed to his knees, and just stared.

“No… I didn’t want that to… Why did I?” Chara mumbled to himself. He couldn’t believe it. He kept hoping he would wake up. That this was all just a bad dream and that he’ll wake up in his bed, walk into the living room, and they’d still be there. That Asriel didn’t die and that his stupid plan was just a dream. Try as he might. He couldn’t change the reality of things. Eventually he just started to laugh. He’d always default to laughter when in stress or guilt. So as usual, he laughed.

It wasn’t funny.

* * *

When he stopped, he looked about ready to cry. He closed his eyes and let a few out a few tears, gasping for air every now and then. Wherever he was, he could still cry, laugh, and kick himself in the rear. He opened his eyes, and saw someone in front of him. A little girl outlined in a cyan glow, with a ribbon tied around her wrist and holding what looked to be a small knife. He stared at her, and she stared at him.

“Are you sad?” She asked.

Chara wiped his eyes and stared up at the girl. “C-couldn’t you t-tell?”

The girl looked down at the floor, then back at Chara, tilting her head. “Well, why are you sad?”

He looked away. “I… I messed up.”

“Oh…” She said dejectedly. Before she could say anything else, an orange glow presented itself nearby the two. A young boy looked at the two in confusion. He had a bandana on his head and his hands were wrapped in gloves.

“Um… Where are we?” He asked. Chara just shrugged, not even bothering to open his mouth. He laid on his back and looked… Upward? Downward? It was hard to tell. Everything looked the same. The orange glowing kid saw that as an opportunity to jump on him.

“Hey!” Chara yelped.

“DOGPILE!!”

“Read the room kid! Get off!” Chara berated the younger boy, whilst also trying to sit up.

“You can’t boss me around, I’m eight!” The boy said proudly.

“And I’m thirteen.” Chara replied. “So I’m the de facto boss!” 

“NOOOO!” The younger boy yelled in defeat as he collapsed on Chara's legs. The girl with the ribbon just laughed. She was somewhere around six or seven from the looks of it. Chara chuckled with her for a bit. It was genuine. 

“Well this is an interesting sight to come to…” A new voice said. Chara looked and saw a girl in a ballerina outfit staring at the three. Chara pushed the younger boy off of him, who then promptly ran up to the new addition, who had a blue glow to them.

“How old are you?!” The boy demanded.

“Eleven…?” The ballerina said with confusion.

The boy pouted and stomped his foot in defeat. “Aw, man!”

“Were you hoping she’d be older than me?” Chara asked, not even moving from his position.

“D ’aww! Were you hoping I could boss him around?” The girl asked the orange glowing kid.

“YES!" The boy answered eagerly. "That way he couldn’t boss ME around!”

“But then she could boss you around.” The cyan glowing girl said.

The boy blinked for a few seconds. “Oh…”

“I guess that means I'm still the boss then!” Chara declared, much to the younger boy's disappointment.

A new glow made itself present. It was a calming purple. The owner of the glow looked around, and then opened their notebook while adjusting their glasses. “Interesting! It seems I’ve found myself in some sort of void! With 4 other people no less! If I ever get the chance, I should write this down! What a story that would be! Although a void seems a little cliché. Maybe I can make some exaggerations… Maybe make it an Abyss? No that’s also been done to death!” There seems to be no way to break them out of their mumbling. “Who seems to be the current leader?” They asked curiously.

“Depends, how old are you?” Chara replied.

“I’m eleven.” The new addition replied, pushing up their glasses.

“Then I’m still in charge!” Chara declared as the orange glowing kid groaned in defeat.

Before the purple glowing kid could make any new observations, a green glow made itself present. A boy wielding a frying pan and wearing an apron looked around at the group. “Oh wow, there are others here!" He noted excitedly. "Where-ever here is, exactly..." He added. "I'm Luke!"

“I’m Cassy! But you can call me Cass!” Cyan said.

“Alex.” Orange said.

“Alyssa.” Blue said with a graceful bow.

“Sam.” Purple said adjusting their glasses.

“C-Chara.” Chara replied with a slight wave. He was starting to feel somewhat nervous with all the new additions.

“Nice to meet you all!” Luke beamed. He looked around the void, and then scratched his head with his free hand. “Where are we? I was in Hotland a second ago.”

“Hotland?” Chara perked his head up.

“Yeah! It was this lava-y place!” Luke replied.

“I was in a place called Waterfall.” Alyssa said thoughtfully.

“Me too.” Sam added.

“I was freezing in a snowy forest!” Alex declared with a weird sense of pride.

“Why do you sound excited about that?” Chara asked. Alex just shrugged.

Cass giggled. “I was-”

Before Cass could finish, a yellow glow appeared. The new kid was frantically looking around. A sense of anger and betrayal seemed to permeate off of the new, western addition. “That damn flower! If I ever see him again…”

“Language!” Luke berated. “There’s younger kids here!”

“Sorry!” Yellow said, calming down somewhat. “Sorry. That flower… He tricked me…”

_Flower?_ Chara thought.

“It’s alright!” Luke replied. “Who’re you?”

“Clover.” Yellow responded. “Wait. You guys look like…” Clover looked at the five other kids, ignoring Chara all together. “You were all on the missing poster." They finally muttered. "I-I tried to go into the mountain to find you guys…”

“Really?!” Cass beamed.

“Guess it didn’t work.” Sam put it bluntly. “We’re all in a void. We’re all dead.”

Chara felt a twinge of sadness at the prospect of everyone in the area being dead. He hugged his knees and tuned out the argument that Sam had started due to their bluntness. Cass sat down next to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Well, tried to anyway. He was taller than her. “Are you still sad, Chara?” Chara just nodded.

“What happened to ya?” Clover asked.

“Hey, if he-Wait, are you a he?” Luke asked to Chara.

"Well, I go by he/they, so..." Chara did a fifty-fifty hand gesture.

Luke sighed in relief. “Ok. We don’t need to pry into his life. I’m sure everyone wouldn’t just want to talk about what they were doing before coming to this place.”

“I froze in a snowy forest!” Alex declared, placing his hands on his hips and giving a smile. Chara took notice of how the smile looked a little, forced.

“Seriously, that isn’t something to be excited about.” Sam said. Alex looked at the older kid in confusion, but just left it at that.

“I was just wandering around Waterfall before I fell into the water.” Alyssa said meekly.

“Well if we’re all sharing..." Sam sighed. "I was also in Waterfall, when I was...Being chased by something...My glasses fell off, and I got lost. Next thing I knew, I was here." Chara and Alyssa eyed Sam with suspicion, given that they took a while to respond, but left it at that.

Luke ran a hand over his face and sighed. “Well if we’re doing this, I was walking around Hotland. A little while later, some guards found me, and...Well you could probably guess what happened..."

“I was exiting the Ruins, but I only made it a few steps before seeing Chara here all alone.” Cass said innocently. Chara felt a twinge of sadness hearing that Cass only made it a few steps before dying.

“I was… Also in Hotland.” Clover said. "I met this flower, way earlier, who said that I could rely on him for help." Clover's expression darkened. "Next thing I knew, the weed was cackling over my death..."

Chara processed each information that the others gave him, but something felt wrong to him. "Something doesn't seem right." The others looked to Chara, as he glanced at Luke, Clover and Sam. "You guys made it sound like the monsters were attacking you, but...That doesn't sound right at all..."

“How can you be so sure? If you’re here with us, you must’ve been attacked by them.” Sam commented before Alyssa punched their shoulder.

Chara took a deep breath. “I fell into the underground trying to get away from my…”

Clover sat down to meet Chara at eye level. "Look, I'm sure at least half of us had sad reasons for climbing that mountain, so..." They stopped and everyone sat down as well. 

Chara just looked to the floor. “My father was abusive." Chara said right off the bat, causing everyone but Sam and Clover to gasp. "I went to the mountain to run away from all that, having heard the legend it held. I found a cave, and went inside, just when it started to rain." Chara sighed. "I went deeper inside, but tripped on a vine, and fell underground."

"Oh..." Clover suddenly interrupted. "I was honestly expecting a darker reason..." Most of the other children punched Clover in the arm, but Chara just laughed it off.

"Yeah, it does sound like a pretty tame reason for falling." Chara sighed and adjusted his seating position. "After my fall, I was helped out, by a member of the Royal Family." Everyone hummed at the prospect, while Chara had to resist tearing up. "His name was Asriel, and after he brought me to his parents, and they healed my damages from the fall, and helped some scars fade away..." Chara rubbed one of his arms, which made everyone either raise an eyebrow in confusion, or nod solemnly in understanding.

"So...What happened then?" Sam finally asked.

Chara sighed and covered his face with his hand. "I was an idiot, that's what happened." He blurted out, causing the others to jump. "I learned that, when the humans trapped monsters underground, their method of doing so required the power of seven human magicians. Actual magic users, not the people hired for birthday parties." Chara quickly added, causing Cass and Alex to chuckle a bit. "To break the spell used, they needed the same power. Seven human SOUL's."

"Wouldn't the SOUL's need some form of magic in order for that to work, though?" Alyssa asked.

"That's a good point." Sam followed up. "I understand why the SOUL's would be needed, but it would be wise to assume that the SOUL's needed to know magic in order for them to work."

Chara shook his head. "Nope. Because if a monster absorbed a human SOUL, they could pass through the barrier."

Sam went wide eyed. _"Relying on a monster's natural magic..."_

Chara eyed Sam suspiciously again, but took a glance at their notebook, figuring that they must've learned that knowledge through studies, so he left it be and sighed. "I made a plan, for Asriel to break monsters free, by using my SOUL to pass through the barrier, he could get six more, and free the monsters..."

"So you..." Clover paused. "That's..."

"However..." Chara interrupted. "At the last minute, Asriel couldn't do it. He died, and..." Chara started tearing up. The others looked at the floor somberly, unsure of what to do. "I just wanted to free everyone, but instead I..." Chara curled up into a ball and sobbed. The others moved themselves closer to Chara and pretty soon, everyone was locked into a group hug. Chara wiped his eyes and sniffed. "I just...I just wish I had the chance to say I'm sorry...To try and fix things..."

***T*at m*y *e p*s*ble.**

The group looked around in shock, before a part of the darkness itself began to rise up. A tall figure loomed over the children. The figure's face was hidden beneath what looked like a white flame. Like a glitch in the universe itself was making itself known.

***I c*n he*p you.**

“You… Can help me?” Chara asked, clearly skeptical.

***Ye*.**

Before Chara could react, fragments of his soul appeared before him. In fact, everyone's soul made themselves known but Chara’s was the only one in pieces. The rest were fine.

***I c*n st*ch yo*r s*ul b*c* to*eth*r.**

The few pieces of Chara’s soul began to reform, but it could only reform the upper right of his soul.

***Hmm, t*at* n*t en*u*h...**

“Can we help?” Cass asked.

“What?” Chara was bewildered.

“I want to help too!” Luke said urgently.

“Me too!” Alex piped up.

“If he can free the monsters, then maybe we can be free from the void as well.” Sam said thoughtfully.

“If it gives him a chance to get rid of that weed, I’ll help too.” Clover said.

“We might have a chance to have our lives again.” Alyssa said softly.

“You guys… Why?” Chara couldn’t wrap his head around it.

“Well, it seems like you have the biggest reason for going back,” Luke said. “And if we can help you get back, we’ll do it!”

Everyone made sounds of agreement. Chara looked at everyone and gave a warm smile as he wiped his eyes. “You guys barely even know me...And yet you're all crazy enough to try and help me..."

“I’m taking that as a compliment.” Alyssa said.

Chara chuckled. "Well, that's one way to take it...I guess..." He turned to the figure. "So...How exactly does this work?"

***Th*y mu*t d*na*e pi*ces of th*ir souls.**

Clover was the first to do just that, giving Chara a piece of their yellow soul. It was the upper left half, and matched the upper right evenly. Sam donated the bottom on their soul, while Alex and Cass added on to it. Luke added a piece of his below Chara’s upper right half, while Alyssa did the same on the opposite. All that was left was a small portion in the middle.

***W* nee* on* mo*e...**

Chara looked dejected at first, but quickly hid that with a smile. "Well...It was worth a shot guys..."

“Don’t lose hope Chara!” Alyssa said, patting Chara on the back. “If we were able to give you parts of our souls, then someone else might show up and-” Before Alyssa could finish, a soul appeared. It was the same shade of red as Chara’s. A small portion of it filled the hole in Chara’s soul, finishing up the patchwork.

Chara could feel his soul come to life, and he was overjoyed. He was… Hopeful. “Does this mean?...”

***Y*u can g* ba*k.**

Everyone beamed at the proclamation, and enclosed Chara in another group hug. He still wasn't sure why, but the fact that everyone was willing to help made him feel happy. "Thanks guys..." The group let go of the hug and patted Chara on the back and shoulders, smiling. He looked up at the figure and raised a brow. "So...What happens now?"

***Yo*’ll go b*ack, an* jo*n a n*w adve*ture.**

“A new adventure? That sounds… Fun.” Chara said with newfound glee.

***I *ma*ine it d*es. Rem*mber, Chara, to st*y HOPEFUL...**

At that reminder, Chara’s soul went from red, to a shade of peach. He’d never seen this virtue before, but due to the amount of it he felt, he named it ‘Hope’. He gave everyone a smile and a wave, and enveloped in a light.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was no longer surrounded by darkness. He could see light in the hole up ahead. He moved to get up, and felt something brush along the top of his head. He turned around, and saw a human, laying in a small cluster of Golden Flowers. Chara looked at the hole in the ceiling, and then back at the fallen human. He wasn’t sure if they tripped like he did, but he was at a loss of what to do. If this was any other circumstance, he’d probably leave them there, but after the kindness he was shown in the void, he figured it’d be best to help this one out.

He rolled them onto their back, that way they didn’t wake up with a face full of flowers. The human looked to be a female, but it was best to ask. Their black hair was fairly long, stopping at their shoulders and styled like a bob cut, seemingly having a few shades of dark purple to it. They were wearing a blue sweater with two magenta stripes on the torso, blue jeans, with brown shoes protecting their feet.

Chara’s first instinct was to check for a pulse, so he lifted up their right arm and pulled the sleeve of the sweater down a bit. He froze when he saw the bruises. The shades of black and blue stood out immensely on the human's caramel skin. Chara sighed, and sympathized with the unconscious human, before placing his fingers on the wrist to check the pulse. Thankfully, it was normal. With a breath of relief, he set the arm down and took another glance at the human.

He noticed a large square band-aid on their cheek. It wasn’t going to last long, due to the corner peeling off and the overall look of it screaming ‘I’m not going to make it!’, so he carefully took it off. Underneath was another bruise, but this one was accompanied by a small, red line. It wasn’t bleeding, but the sight itself made Chara wince. He threw away the band-aid and started to stand up. The human began to mutter. He stopped in his tracks and sat back down with worry. He leaned in closer, which was probably not the best idea, since the human jolted up, and collided with his head.

That was going to leave a mark.


	2. Chapter 1: RUINS-1

“Frisk, stay in the living room. I’ll try and talk them down...” A tired sounding boy said.

Frisk didn’t bother to try and resist, so she obeyed her brother and sat down on the couch. It was routine at this point. When their parents started arguing, it wasn’t pretty. Kris was always the best one to try and break it up since he had to deal with it the longest. Still, a part of her wished things were better, and that they could be like other families. The two had friends who offered to get them away from their parents, but the two were determined to try and make their lives better themselves. She secretly wished that her friends ignored them and helped out anyways. Her home was a mess. Her mom would always hit or scratch her dad, who started drinking in order to null it, and when he got too drunk, she’d aim her assaults on the two kids, who refused to even think of hitting back.

Today was just like any other day. Parents fighting in the kitchen, while Kris is the one who tries and fails to break it up. It was a constant cycle, but today proved different. Because Frisk decided to try and help Kris. She got up from the couch, and made her way to the kitchen, where all the yelling was taking place. She wasn't sure what made her do this, but she did it anyways.

“Mom, put the knife down!” Kris’ voice echoed.

_K-knife?!_ Frisk picked up her pace. The kitchen was a lengths away from the living room, but when she made to the doorway to the kitchen, the first thing she saw was her brother collapsing onto the floor, a red stain forming on his shirt. She looked onward, at her mom holding the bloodied knife, and her dad who was backing away in a panic. 

_No… nononononono!!_

* * *

“NO!” Frisk shot up from the ground, and bumped her head on some poor unsuspecting bystander. She rubbed her head, and looked at the other person in the room. They were eerily pale, with the only indication of life being the slight tinge of pink on their cheeks. They had short spiky hair that was a reddish, brown color and was wearing a green sweater with a single yellow stripe, atop of a black dress shirt from the looks of the collar peeking out. Their pants and shoes seemed to match, both being a dark brown and almost seemingly blend together. They had a golden, upside down heart locket hanging from their neck, and what looked to be a dagger hanging from their belt.

“I should have expected that.” The unfamiliar kid said. “With all the muttering in your sleep, that would have been the expected outcome.” The stranger opened their eyes and revealed their copper color.

“I-I’m sorry, I just… Bad dream…” Frisk stumbled.

“It’s fine! I’ve had my fair share of bad dreams.” The stranger let out a patient smile, and then cleared their throat. “Greetings! My name is Chara, like the star. You are?”

“Frisk.”

“Nice to meet you, Frisk.” Chara smiled, before rubbing the back of his head nervously. “I’m sure you weren’t expecting someone to be near when you fell, huh?”

“When I… Oh… right. No I wasn’t.”

“That’s understandable.” Chara replied, before nervously shifting and clearing his throat again. “I take it you're from Ebott?”

“Yeah." Frisk replied with a nod, proceeding to then look around her surroundings. "So… Are we… Underground?”

“Yes, we are." Chara replied, scratching his head. "It’s not so bad, the monsters are friendly, and would rather keep you distracted with puzzles for the most part.” Chara chuckled.

“Monsters?" Frisk eyes widened. "Wait like from those fairy tales?!” 

Chara raised a brow, and scoffed. “Is that what they’re being treated as? That’s… Actually surprising. When I fell, the stories of the monsters were long gone.”

“They were, but after an incident that happened nearly thirty years ago, people began talking about them again. Saying how they come from the mountain, preying on unsuspecting children!” Frisk giggled. “Never really believed that last part.”

“They can’t leave anyway.” Chara mentioned. “There’s a barrier preven… WAIT HOW MANY YEARS AGO?!”

“Um… thirty years ago?” To say Frisk was shocked by the outburst would be an overstatement, but close to the truth. “People said a monster came from the mountain back in 2017…”

“So that means it’s…”

“2046.” Frisk responded casually.

Frisk felt concerned by the amount of time Chara spent staring at the Golden Flowers in shock. She glanced at the flowers occasionally. They must’ve broken her fall. Finally, Chara exhaled. _“I’ve been dead for thirty years…”_

“D-WHAT?!” Frisk stared at Chara in shock, confusion and just a regular dose of that the person she's talking to is crazy and that maybe, just maybe, she should run.

“I fell back in 2014. I was raised by monsters for three years, and then died.” Chara gave a brief run-through.

“I-I’m going to need clarification!” Frisk exclaimed. “How could you have been dead for thirty years and then come back?!”

“It’s going to sound crazy.” Chara muttered.

“One of my friends thinks the earth is flat and the moon landing was fake. I can handle it.” Frisk declared.

Chara took a deep breath. _Ok, how do I shorten this enough to make it sound believable?_ "I'll try my best to explain it, just, stop me if you need clarifications."

“Ok.” Frisk nodded.

Chara released the tension in his shoulders, and stood up. He made his way to one of the broken pillars in the room sat against it. Frisk decided to sit against one of the vine covered pillars. “Long ago, two races ruled over Earth. HUMANS and MONSTERS”

* * *

"So Monsters and Humans used to live on the surface together, until suddenly, a war broke out, which the monsters lost, causing them to be trapped underground with a magic spell?" Frisk summarized to make sure she had the information correct. She sighed in relief when Chara nodded. "And I assume you fell down because of..." She trailed off.

Chara sighed. "My father was the greatest...But I mainly ran to the mountain to hide, thanks to it's legend. I just tripped down here."

"You tripped?" Frisk asked with a tilt of her head. "You didn't...Um..."

Chara shook his head. "I tripped. And fell...When I came too, I found out that I was rescued by a monster, a member of the Royal Family..."

Frisk raised a brow. "Royal Family?"

"The rulers of the underground." Chara replied simply. "The prince, Asriel, found me after my fall and took me to the king and queen. They healed me, and made sure I was safe..." Chara gripped his heart locket.

Frisk picked at a blade of grass and ran it between her fingers. "What-What are they like?" She finally asked.

Chara chuckled. "They were amazing! The king, Asgore, loved to garden and walk around, talking with the other monsters of the underground! The queen, Toriel, was a great baker, and was always the one to make sure that certain jobs were being done correctly." Chara smiled at the thought of the king and queen, while Frisk let out a small sigh. "They helped make up for what the other lacked. You couldn't rely on Asgore to make sure the Royal Scientist was doing his job correctly, and most of the monsters were pretty intimidated by Toriel."

"Sounds like a much needed balance then." Frisk pointed out.

Chara sighed. "It was. The family took me in as one of their own. Despite me being a human, despite me being a part of the race that trapped them in the mountain, they decided to raise me as a part of their family..." Chara began tearing up, but he quickly wiped his eyes. "Me and Asriel became best friends. We got into so much trouble together." The two chuckled. Chara sighed and gripped his locket again. "I wanted to free them. The monsters...So I made a plan."

"I'm guessing it didn't go well..." Frisk muttered.

Chara shook his head. "It didn't." He sighed and slouched against the pillar. "It was going fine at first. To cross the barrier, you need a human SOUL and a monster SOUL. I...Poisoned myself so Asriel could take my SOUL, cross the barrier, and get six more SOUL's." Chara stared up at the hole above them, while Frisk made a slight, mournful hum. "When we got to the surface, everything went wrong. A group of humans held Asriel at gunpoint, and he froze up."

"Wait...We?" Frisk raised a brow. "If you were dead, then-"

"When Asriel absorbed my SOUL, my sub-conscious remained intact, and I could see and hear what he did, and he could hear my voice." Chara quickly explained. "I...Caused him to freeze up, by trying to make him attack the humans." Chara buried his face in his hands while Frisk gasped. "I caused him to freeze up, in front of a group of dangerous humans...They fired, he died, and I ended up in a void."

"A...Void?" 

Chara nodded. "There was nothing but darkness all around me. I thought I was going to be alone in there...With no way to apologize...With no way to go back." he gripped his sweater. "I was so upset I started to cry, but after I let out a few tears, someone else appeared." Frisk made a confused, almost cat-like noise. "They were a small girl, outlined in a cyan glow. She was wondering why I was upset, but before I could answer, another person appeared. A young boy outlined in an orange glow." Chara smiled, which made Frisk a little more confused. "More and more people appeared, each one outlined in a different glow. In order, their names were, Cass, Alex, Alyssa, Sam, Luke and Clover."

Frisk chuckled softly. "Well, at least they sound nice."

Chara chuckled as well. "And you'd be right. After I told them what happened, they were willing to comfort me, and, despite barely even knowing me, they were willing to help me..."

"Is this the part where you finally explain how you're here?" Frisk smugly asked.

Chara chuckled. "Yes, but it still sounds crazy..."

"Shoot."

After a roll of his eyes, Chara sighed and sat up straighter against the pillar. "A dark figure appeared before all of us, and offered to help me get back. I'm...Not really sure why me, out of all of us, but..." Chara shook his head. "In order for me to get back, the figure needed to stitch my SOUL together. But, there wasn't enough of my own SOUL for it to work...That's when-"

"The others offered pieces of their own SOUL's." Frisk guessed, earning a nod from Chara. Suddenly, the whole world went black and white, and a cartoon red heart appeared before Frisk. She gawked at the sight of the floating heart, before turning to Chara and seeing the same sight, with his being a bright peach color instead. "So these are..."

"These are our SOUL's, the very culmination of every living being." Chara explained. "Mine turned from red to peach after everyone offered a piece of their own SOUL." The brown haired human sighed and clutched his locket. "Each SOUL for a human has a different virtue, but the most common ones are Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness and Justice. Your SOUL, is one of the rare types, which haven't been documented as much as the others." Chara pointed to Frisk's SOUL and the tan human stared at it in even more wonder.

"Wow..."

Chara softly chuckled. "SOUL's are an interesting subject." He looked down at his own SOUL. "I've never heard of a peach colored SOUL, so I got the opportunity to name it's virtue!"

"And what did you call it?" 

Chara smiled. "I decided that it's virtue means 'Hope'. Due to the amount of it I felt. When it reformed, I woke up a few feet away from where you were. Once I saw you, I figured it'd be best to make sure you were ok."

"And I repaid that by bumping you in the head." Frisk chided herself. Chara held his hands up in defense and chuckled.

"I should've seen it coming, so in a way, it was my own fault."

Frisk sighed. "Still, I feel pretty bad about it..."

"Anyone would, but I understand why it happened." Chara smiled, to which Frisk responded with one of her own. Suddenly, two string-like glows were connected between the two SOUL's. One was golden, the other was crimson. Chara tried to grab a hold of them, but they phased through his fingertips. He hummed in response. "Well...Those are new."

"I'm not sure about the golden line, but usually, when a red line appears between two people, it means their SOULmates!" Frisk suddenly said with a cheesy grin.

Chara stared at Frisk in disbelief, trying to resist the urge to break out into laughter. "Was..." He then just stared out blankly. "Wait, was that a pun, or were you flirting...?" Frisk's response was a simple shrug, wo which Chara began to laugh. "Wow...Okay then..." He calmed himself down, and then stood up from the pillar, returning the world to full color and withdrawing their SOUL's back to their proper places. "Well, from the looks of things, we're in the Ruins. I'd ask if you wanted to go back to the surface, but-"

Frisk quickly shook her head. "No...I...No..."

chara sighed. "I figured, but at the very least, we should get to the capital, New Home."

"New...Home?" Frisk stared at Chara blankly.

"I never said the king was good at naming things." Chara deadpanned. "The journey shouldn't take to long, and...Maybe they'll understand after I tell them..." He stared down at the floor, downcast, but soon felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked to Frisk, who was smiling at him.

"I'm sure they will. After all, from the sounds of it, they didn't hold a grudge on you for being a human, so when they hear your reasoning..." She sighed and looked Chara in the eyes, revealing properly to the boy her violet colored irises. "I'm sure they'll forgive you."

Chara smiled hopefully at Frisk's claim. "Yeah...They definitely are the type of people who would..." He sighed began to walk from the flower patch, before his eyes widened and he turned back to Frisk, almost crashing into her. "By the way, the monsters may be pretty docile, but the underground itself...It can be pretty dangerous on it's own, if you aren't careful..."

"I can imagine, for being underground and all." Frisk rolled her eyes. Chara did the same.

"The point is, I noticed you were squinting the entire time, so I figured..."

Frisk hovered a hand over one of her eyes. "Oh...Yeah, my vision...Isn't the greatest. I can only see just a foot past my finger tips..."

Chara nodded somberly, before tapping his chin. "I think I know someone who could help. We'll be passing by his lab on our way, so maybe we could ask for some glasses from him."

Frisk raised a brow. "Would he have the equipment needed for that?"

"Well, he is a scientist, so I'd imagine so." Chara noticed the dirty look Frisk was giving him and raised his hands defensively. "I'm serious, he has a lot of equipment for different fields!"

Frisk sighed and let out a smile. "Well, you were here longer than me, so I'll take your word for it." She gestured towards the path. "Shall we head off then?"

* * *

The two passed through a doorway and entered a separate room with a patch of grass, with flowers scattered about. One looked to be dying.. Frisk couldn’t help but feel nervous, due to the air taking on an angry feeling. Chara carefully approached the flower, and shortly after Frisk joined him. “Needs more sunlight.” Chara muttered.

“How are there flowers here without it?” Frisk asked.

Before Chara could respond, the flower moved. The two humans fixed their gaze on the plant, which was moving as if it was someone waking up. A pair of beady eyes appeared in the center of the flower, and stared at the two humans. It looked shocked. A mouth appeared.

“Wowie, two humans! That’s never happened before…” The flower spoke.

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, and back to the flower. Both humans were very confused, to say the least.

“Um… Howdy! I’m Flowey. Flowey the Flower!” The flower gave a smile at the two humans.

“Nice to meet you Flowey!” Frisk replied innocently. Chara was looking over Flowey with suspicion. 

“You’re new to the underground, aren’t you?” Flowey asked. “Well, luckily for you, your new friend, Flowey can show you how things work down here!” The world became monotone, and the two souls reappeared. “Those are your SOULS. The culmination of your very being! Your SOULS start off weak, but can become stronger if you gain a lot of LV.”

“LV?” Frisk asked.

“Why, LOVE, of course!” Flowey said cheerfully. Chara narrowed his eyes. “Lucky for you, LOVE can be shared. It can be shared by little white ‘Friendliness pellets’!” As Flowey said that, little white pellets appeared from behind him. “Move around and get as many as you can!” Flowey sent the pellets over to the two humans. Frisk wasn’t sure what was going on, especially since Chara just grabbed her and moved them both out of the way. Flowey looked a little irked at that. “Hey buddy, ya dodged them. Let’s try again!” Flowey tried sending more pellets at them, but Chara moved them out of the way again, before drawing the dagger attached to his belt and assuming a fighting stance.

Flowey’s face contorted, and assumed a menacing, fanged visage. The flower laughed, which echoed throughout the room. “I should’ve known you’d see through the ruse, **_Chara_ **.”

“How do you know my name?” Chara asked, still ready to fight.

“I know all about you. Most importantly, I know about the plan you made, and how it backfired on you hilariously!” The flower laughed again. “Still this is a surprise. I thought for sure you’d let the new human fall for my trap and die. What happened to ‘I hate humanity, it should just burn to the ground!’?”

“What do you want from us?!” Frisk asked.

“Isn’t it obvious? Your SOUL! That’s all any of the monsters want. Human SOULS to break the barrier. I want it for more personal reasons, but a goal is a goal, and the goal is SOULS.” Flowey chuckled. "Wowie, I didn't even plan that last part!"

“While it’s true that human SOULS are the key to breaking the barrier, the monsters wouldn’t just blindly attack one, let alone a child!” Chara shot back.

“A lot’s changed since your failed plan Chara! In this new underground, it’s **_KILL OR BE KILLED!_ ** _”_ Flowey laughed once more as he retreated into the ground. When the world regained color, and the SOULS returned to the owners, Chara sighed and sheathed the worn dagger.

“Chara…” Frisk was rightfully nervous. “Are you okay?”

“I’m just confused. My family being stalked by a flower is one thing, but _‘kill or be killed’_ isn’t how I would describe the underground. Just what happened in the thirty years I was dead?”

“The only way to find out is to move forward.” Frisk said with newfound determination.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Chara agreed, and grabbed Frisk’s hand. “Come on, before that _weed_ shows back up again.” 

The two left and entered the proceeding room. The walls were made up of purple stone, and little patches of red leaves littered the area. In front of them was the path upwards, with two staircases leading up. In the middle of their path was a bright, glowing star. The two approached it with caution.

“What’s this?”

“No idea.” Chara answered. “I’ve never seen something like this when I was down here.”

Frisk stared at the glimmering beacon. “Is it safe?”

“Only one way to find out.” Chara held up his hand, and Frisk followed suit. The two touched the star, and the world around them seemed to freeze in place.

**_The shadow of the RUINS looms overhead. A mere shadow to the light created by newfound partnership. Knowing neither of you will be alone on this journey fills you with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**Frisk & Chara**

**FILE SAVED**

**Both LV 1**

The two humans moved their hands away from the star. Looking around urgently for the voice that spoke to them. 

“You heard that right?” Chara asked.

Frisk just nodded. She looked over at Chara who did the same, and noticed his face gained more confusion to it. “What?”

“The bruise on your cheek.”

Frisk hovered a hand over where the bruise was located. “What about it?”

“It’s gone.”

Frisk was even more confused by the notion, but when she felt the area where the bruise was located, sure enough, the pain was gone. “Woah.”

Chara looked at the star. “Did that… Heal you?”

“If it did, let’s keep an eye out for more of them!” Frisk said gleefully.

Chara nodded. “Yeah. I don’t know why but… I feel like they’ll be essential.” At that notion, the two headed up the stairs. Ready to tackle whatever it was the Ruins had in store for them.


	3. Chapter 1: RUINS-2

The two entered a room where the door ahead was locked. There were six pressure plates lining the floor. Chara walked up to the wall and read a stone table that was positioned near a switch. “Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.” He read aloud.

Frisk tilted her head. “What does that mean?”

“It’s just a fancy way of saying ‘the middle ones don’t do anything.’” Chara proceeded to step on the four pressure plates, ignoring the middle ones, and flipped the switch, opening the closed door. “See?”

“Huh…” Frisk went up to the mural Chara read, and was instantly baffled. “This just looks like a bunch of scribbles…”

“That’s just their written language." Chara shrugged. "There’s a Library in Snowdin Town where I can teach you how to read it.”

“Snowdin Town?”

“It’s a small town that resides outside the Ruins. It’s nice, but as the name suggests, pretty cold.” 

“I can imagine.” Frisk said smugly.

Chara entered the next room with Frisk right behind him. The room veers off to the right, and Chara notices a few switches on the wall. “This one is pretty simple. Past this bridge is a switch, and there are two others past the next bridge. Someone seems to have marked them so it should be simple enough.”

“Isn’t the point of a puzzle to let people figure out the solution themselves?” Frisk pointed out.

“I never said they were good at making puzzles.”

“Fair point.” The two crossed the first bridge and Frisk went up to the first switch and pressed it. “One’s done!”

“Then I’ll get the next one.” Chara said as he crossed the bridge. He went up and pressed the marked switch, and heard the spikes blocking the path retract. “We’re good!” Chara called out to Frisk, who was now rejoining him. He glanced to the other switch, and noticed a few planks of wood were boarded up beneath it. _That's odd...What happened?_

“What’s at the end of the Ruins anyway?” Frisk asked, pulling Chara out of his thoughts.

“Well, for starters, there’s the old Dreemurr house, where the royal family stayed before going to what is now known as the capital.” Chara explained. “If you end up in the lower half of the ruins, there is also a house owned by an antisocial monster who really likes corn, for some reason. Both houses lead to Snowdin Forest.”

Frisk hummed, but before she could make any comments, Chara stopped in his tracks. “A practice dummy!”

“A what?” Frisk glanced inside the room, which was a blur of purple, pink, red, and peach, with a speck of brown within.

Chara pointed at the unmoving mannequin, which had several visible stitches all around it. “A practice dummy! They’re useful for training how to fight, but in your case, we can use it to practice peaceful approaches in case of an enemy!” Chara ushered Frisk towards the dummy, and once again the world went monotone. “When the world gets like this, you’re in a fight. Since you made it clear on your stance on fighting, we’ll practice our negotiation skills.”

“Like talking them down?” Frisk commented.

“In some cases. It’s mainly about trying to appeal to their better nature. If you show them that you’re harmless, they’ll be willing to leave you alone. Try saying something that would make someone happy.”

Frisk walked up to the dummy, contemplating what to say, while staring intently at it. Frisk could swear that she saw the dummy blink, but didn’t comment on it. She stood straight, and then made finger guns towards it. “How’s it hanging, hot stuff?” She winked.

Chara stared at Frisk in disbelief. “Did you just… Flirt with it?” Chara glanced at the dummy, and could make out a faint shade of pink on the face.

“It was the first thing that came to mind.” Frisk shrugged.

“Well… It’s one way to stop a fight. Pretty sure anyone would be stunned if their opponent just started flirting with them.” 

Frisk chuckled. “Sure fire way to stop any conflict!” Frisk turned back to the dummy. “Well, anyway, how’s your day been? You look like you’ve been having fun!” Frisk turned back to Chara. “How was that?”

“Not bad. If we end up in a real fight, we’ll be able to see those skills in actual practice.” At those words, the world returned to normal, and the two headed up to the next room. The peach color that indicated the path had stopped at the door, and was now making up a small pattern on the floor of the new room. “We don’t need to worry about this one. Me and Az have passed through this part so many times it’s practically burned into my brain.” Chara mentioned, ignoring the floor pattern and continuing down the path. “That and it’s quite literally impossible to mess it up.”

“How so?” 

“You’ll see.” At those words the world turned monotone. The two looked around, and saw a frog-like monster in front of them. “Oh, a Froggit.”

“Froggit?” Frisk looked at the monster, who had a frog shaped head, but the rest of the body looked to be a mere cloak, hiding a face within it. “It’s kinda cute…”

The Froggit looked at the human, and cocked it’s head sideways. It seemed both confused and flattered, given the blush it had on both faces. Chara gave the monster a pet, and the world returned to normal. Froggit hopped away. “That was easier than I thought.” Chara commented.

“That’s a good thing!”

“I know it is.”

The two walked up to a bridge that was just, spikes. Literally. There were a lot of spikes. Before Frisk could say anything, Chara grabbed her hand and led her through. They passed through without any trouble as the spikes he was stepping towards retracted from his very presence. Frisk glanced around at the water and saw a Froggit minding it's own business. The two were on the other side in a flash. “Wow. You weren’t kidding when you said it was burned into your brain.” Frisk commented.

“Even then, this was made so that you couldn’t mess up at all. The other spikes don’t retract when someone is close by.”

“Really?”

“Really." Chara stepped back onto the bridge and placed his foot on some spikes, which were locked in place. Frisk facepalmed as Chara chuckled. "Monsters are weird with their puzzles. Anyway, now it’s a really long corridor.”

“Is that a joke or…” Frisk glared at him.

“I’m serious.” Chara pointed down the corridor of the next room.

“Of course you are.” Frisk rolled her eyes. The duo began walking through the corridor and like Chara said, it was pretty long. It was just a long stretch that honestly felt pretty pointless in the long run. A pillar made itself known and Frisk took the chance to sit against it. “I need to rest my feet. We did a lot of walking.”

“A break does sound nice.” Chara replied as he rested against the pillar as well. He looked at the floor and something caught his attention. A small, faded ribbon was lying on the floor next to him. He picked it up, and felt a bit of nostalgia. He remembered that Cass had a ribbon on her wrist, and since she was at some point in the Ruins, this must’ve been hers. “Hey Frisk.”

“Yeah?” Chara showed Frisk the Faded Ribbon. Frisk looked up at Chara, slightly confused. “What about it?”

“I want to try something. Could you turn your head for a second?”

“Um… Sure?” Frisk obliged.

Chara took a portion of Frisk’s hair and tied the Ribbon onto it. “Done!”

Frisk ran her hand through her hair, feeling that a majority of the back was tied up into a small ponytail, leaving her bangs and a couple tufts of hair at the side of her face in place. She gave a slight smile. “Can I ask what made you think of that?”

“Well, if what Flowey said is true, which I still somewhat doubt, it would be beneficial for us to make the monsters feel bad about hitting us.” Chara explained.

“So I get a Ribbon, which is supposed to… Make me look cuter, which would make them feel guilty?” Frisk guessed.

“Yes, and since I still have this dagger,” Chara slightly unsheathed the dagger. “I can make myself intimidating, so they’ll feel scared to attack.”

“Heh, that’s pretty smart!”

“I have my moments.” Chara smiled.

The two laughed and relaxed against the pillar. Chara was hoping that Flowey was only taunting the two, but something about that flower didn’t sit right with him. Especially since he had Clover’s experience to take into effect, Flowey is most likely why Clover died. Seeing as he had fit the criteria. As he pondered, he could feel his eyelids starting to get heavy, and this didn’t seem like a good spot to doze off.

“It’s best if we continue. We don’t want to fall asleep here.” Chara stood up and stretched.

“Mmmkay.” Frisk followed suit, sounding extremely tired.

“We should be able to rest once we get to the end. Just keep moving and we’ll be there in no time.”

“If we can’t I’ll hold you responsible.” Frisk said sternly.

“That’s fair.”

_“Oh dear, it’s been a while since I last watered those flowers!”_ Said a muffled voice from the next room.

Chara looked to the doorway in shock. “Was that…?”

The answer to Chara’s question soon entered the room. A tall, very fluffy looking, goat-like monster wearing a purple robe with white sleeves stood before the two humans holding a watering can, which they dropped at the sight of the duo. The caprine monster held one hand over their mouth, and the other hand gripped at their golden locket as they stared at Chara, looking like they were going to cry.

“Ch-Chara?!” 

“Mom…” Chara ran up to hug his mom, tears rolling down his face. The two embraced for what felt like a minute, before the monster broke it off, looking over Chara with concern, worry and care. 

“H-How is this… How are you...?” 

“It’s complicated.” Chara brushed off the question. He really didn’t know how to explain it this time. “But I’m here!”

Frisk looked at the two awkwardly. “I feel like I should give you guys some space…”

“No no, you’re good!” Chara reassured. “Frisk, this is Toriel. Toriel, this is Frisk.” Chara introduced the two.

“Greetings my child! It’s been awhile since someone else has fallen down. Are you hurt?” Toriel looked Frisk over, scanning for injuries.

“No, I’m good! Chara made sure I was ok!” Frisk replied.

“He did?”

“Why do you sound so shocked?” Chara asked smugly.

“Well it’s just… I never would have thought…” Toriel blushed slightly as she tried to find her words.

“I’m just messing with you.” Chara snickered. “It’s understandable.”

Frisk giggled at the two. “So you’re Toriel? Chara told me you make excellent pies.”

“Of course he would! He loves them a lot. Almost as much as chocolate.”

“God, that sounds good right now.” Chara muttered.

“Luckily for you, I have some back home!” 

_“Yes!”_ Chara fist pumped the air.

Frisk stifled another giggle, before yawning and rubbing her eyes. Chara followed suit.

“Oh dear, you two seem tired.” Toriel stated the obvious. “Come along, I’ll make sure we get back home safely.” Toriel grabbed the two by their hands and led them through the Ruins. The monsters left them alone throughout the trip and the three only had to deal with the puzzles, which involved pushing rocks onto pressure plates and walking on a cracked floor. Well, most monsters left them alone. A rock monster was being a bit of a smartass when the three tried to pass through it's puzzle, and a couple rooms afterwards, a bed sheet looking ghost monster blocked their path.

“Um… Excuse me?” Frisk spoke up.

“ZZZZZZZZZZ” The ghost opened one of their eye's slightly, saw the trio in front of them, and then close their eye again. "ZZZZZZZZZZ are they gone yet? ZZZZZZZZZ"

“We need to get through here.” Chara said. Toriel was losing her patience. Chara and Frisk looked at each other, sighed and initiated a fight. 

**_*Napstablook blocks the way._ **

**_*This one doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor._ **

“Oh I’m very funny.”

_We didn’t say anything though._ Chara thought.

“Sorry but we just needed to pass through. We didn’t mean any harm.” Frisk reassured Napstablook.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Napstablook began tearing up, which resulted in tear shaped bullets flying towards the humans, who dodged them.

“It’s fine.” Chara spoke up. "We just needed to pass through." He gave a smile. "If you want, you could join us."

"I'd just weigh you guys down..." Napstablook sighed. "I'm really not feeling up to it right now, sorry."

Frisk gave a patient smile. "Well, how about something to help lift your, SPIRITS." Frisk and Toriel giggled as Chara struggled to stifle his. Napstablook let out a small chuckle, before Frisk seemingly grabbed her left thumb and pulled it away from her left hand, before revealing that her hand were fine. Chara rolled his eyes, while Napstablook smiled, and hummed in thought.

“Let me try...” Napstablook said, before tear like bullets made their way from their eyes, and formed a top hat above their head. “I call it ‘Dapperblook.’ Do you like it?"

“It looks amazing!” Frisk cheered.

“Good job!” Chara clapped.

“Oh…” The world returned to normal. “I usually come to the Ruins because there’s no one around… But today I met some nice people. Oh sorry, I’ll get out of your way.” Napstablook faded away.

Toriel looked at the two humans with pride. “You did very well, my children!”

“We practiced.” Chara shrugged. He held out his and for a high five, which Frisk gladly accepted.

Everyone resumed their travel, after a brief visitation to a Spider Bake-Sale to get some food made by spiders, for spiders, from spiders. Frisk and Chara shared a Spider Donut, which they thought was actually pretty good despite one of the ingredients being spiders. The rest of the journey was pretty tame afterwards.

* * *

The three made it to the end of the Ruins. A nice small little house awaits them. Toriel made her way inside, as Frisk and Chara looked around at the area outside of it. Chara looked at the tree in the middle of the garden solemnly, as Frisk looked at the Golden Flowers, before facing the house. "Hey Chara, it's another one of those stars." Frisk pointed at the hovering star amidst the red leaves. The two brought their hands up to it.

**_Knowing that you’ve both made it to safety and found a loving presence fills you both with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**FILE SAVED**

**Frisk and Chara**

**Both LV 1**

Frisk looked around, noticing the difference in voice, but Chara had stood still, a smile growing on his face. The two entered the house. Toriel smiled at the two and led them down the hall to her left. “I’m sure you two would like to get some rest, but the room only has one bed I’m afraid.” Toriel mentioned as she showed them the door to the room.

“I’ll take the floor.” Chara offered. “I’ve gotten pretty good sleeping like that.”

“Are you sure?” Frisk asked.

“I’m sure.” Chara nodded.

“Well, let me grab something to at least make it more comfortable, my child!” Toriel went further down the hall and entered a room. Chara strolled on down, and stopped at the end of the hallway. Frisk joined up with him and both stood in front of a mirror. Frisk took the time to admire the Ribbon in her hair, while Chara was fiddling with the locket. Toriel came out of the room with a couple blankets and a pillow, and looked at the two staring in the mirror. “It’s you!” She said joyfully. The two humans smiled and followed Toriel to the bedroom.

Chara set up his stuff on the floor, and took off his shoes. He set them down next to a box against the wall, which seemed to hold more shoes. Chara lifted a brow at the sight. Frisk took off her boots and sweater, revealing a plain black shirt. She folded her jacket up and set it on the table which laid in the middle of the room. "This is nice." Frisk commented, admiring the décor.

“It is. Although, I wonder what she’s doing in the Ruins. She never really spent a lot of time here before.” Chara tapped his chin.

“Maybe we could ask her later.” Frisk suggested.

“Yeah, we could. The Ruins can be nice though. Not as crowded as the capital, and it has some nice bug catching spots.” Chara reminisced. “There’s quite a bit to do, but it can get pretty boring after a while, which is why me and Az never stayed long.”

Frisk threw the blanket on the bed over her. “We’ll figure out stuff to do. Who knows, maybe something exciting will happen.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Chara agreed, before turning out the lights. “Good night.”

“‘Night.” 

Chara laid down on his makeshift bed, which was just a blanket underneath a pillow, with another blanket off to the side. But beggars can’t be choosers. He threw the other blanket onto him and stared at the ceiling. _Flowey couldn’t have been telling the truth._ Chara began thinking. _There’s no way Mom and Dad would let the underground stoop that low. Mom especially._ Chara let out a quiet, yet audible sigh. _Mom’s going to be answering a lot of questions._ He stared at the ceiling for a minute longer, and then closed his eyes, ready to face whatever came next.


	4. Chapter 1: RUINS-3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which we find out Chara's birth father was a real piece of shit.
> 
> So yeah, if you don't want to read the beginning of this chapter, feel free to scroll past it until Chara wakes up.

A sea of gold was all that Chara could see. He always liked this field. Connected to the park, yet it was it’s own world. The afternoon sun seemed to cause the area to glow a brilliant gold. No one knows why the flowers have that effect, but Chara liked it. It was calming to him. Here, the world was his oyster. He could do anything he wanted to do here, and not worry about his dad bringing out the belt. He could run around, read a book, or just admire the view whilst eating a bar of chocolate one of the neighbors would give him. He was free here. Nothing could ruin his day while he laid against the petals of the flowers. Nice and soft, but very durable. He watched the sky mindlessly, paying no heed to his other surroundings. That is, until a small white dog blocked the view.

“Well, hi there!” Chara greeted the dog. “What’s your name?”

Chara sat up, and looked over the dog. They had no collar, but that didn’t mean they didn’t have an owner. There were plenty of people in this town who never put a collar on their pets, yet they never lost them. It was strange, but the town never really had a problem with strange. Chara pet the dog for a minute, then looked back up at the sky.

“I shouldn’t stay too long. He might find out.” Chara stood up and waved at the dog. “Bye little buddy!”

It didn’t take long for Chara to make his way back into the town and onto the sidewalk leading up to his house. After a minute, he felt something brush up against his leg. He looked down and saw the dog again.

“I don’t think he’ll like you being there.” Chara addressed the dog with urgency. The dog whimpered at the statement, and brushed up against Chara’s leg again. Chara was conflicted. On one hand, his house wasn’t the best environment one would expect to have a pet in. On the other hand, a pet might just be the thing that gets his dad to calm down. Maybe things would turn around for the boy. There were several cons to the idea, but Chara felt a sense of determination at the thought of a normal life. “Well… Maybe he won’t be so bad when he sees you!” Chara picked up the dog and started to pick up his pace to reach his house.

The world lost all color. Out of the corner of Chara’s eyes a deep red would pulse, but he didn’t notice it. No, he did notice it. It caused him to stir and toss around. 

_Why this one…?_

Chara made it to the front door of his house. It was in desperate need of repair, but no one would attempt to even try. The paint was peeling, the wood was rotting or rotted, and everything seemed to shift to one side. He happily opened the door, and stepped inside. “Dad, Dad look at what followed me home! Can we keep it?!”

_Stop…_

Before Chara knew it, he was in the backyard. He watched the dog happily run around. His dad didn’t reject the notion of keeping a pet, but he didn’t accept it either. He looked at the dog and went upstairs. Chara went out back and here he was, watching the dog run around. He didn’t want to name it yet, but he had several names for either gender that he could call it. The colorless world got darker, and the pulsing red increased it’s radius, nearly blinding his sight. Everything seemed to blur out. Even his dad, who exited the house at last, was nothing more than a mass of white flame. The only thing left with color, was the revolver his dad was holding.

“Dad…?”

The last thing he saw was the gun being raised, before he finally opened his eyes.

* * *

Fast as a bullet, he sat up from his sleep. A terrible ringing filling his ear. He didn’t scream, but was desperately panting to regain his bearings. He looked around and saw that Frisk was still lying in the bed, peacefully resting off the events of the previous day. He buried a palm into his face. He didn’t need to worry about _that place_ anymore. He was safe. He wouldn’t be harmed here. That still didn’t change the fact that bad memories resurface whenever he tried to sleep. They always haunted him, and he could never find the courage to try and sleep again afterwards. This was no different. He got up from where he had been resting, and cautiously made his way to the door, opening it slowly and as quietly as he could. He stepped out into the hall, and closed the door.

The lights in the house were all off, but that didn't mean he couldn’t see. The underground was surprisingly bright despite being nearly a hundred feet below the earth. He made his way to the living room. The first thing that got his attention were the scattered boxes of colored pencils and paper, with a Loox and Migosp drawn on them. He wandered over to the table and saw an old phone laying on it next to a note. He picked the note up and glanced it over.

_I’m going to be gone for a little while my children. The phone already has my number on it, I’ll call if there’s any updates. I hope you’ll be awake by then. For now, feel free to wander around to keep yourselves busy, however I don’t recommend going downstairs. There’s an issue down there that needs to be resolved when I get back. Be safe and be kind to each other._

_-Toriel_

Chara set down the note with a smile, already knowing exactly what Toriel is planning. Since he had the free time, he looked at the bookshelf, hoping one of the books could keep him busy until Toriel came back. He paused when he noticed the tall mirror placed nearby the bookshelf. _It's me, Chara!_ He thought to himself with a slight chuckle.

He pulled a book from the shelf, and a piece of paper fell from within. He set the book back and picked up the paper. It was folded up, and when he undid it, the paper revealed itself to be a missing peoples poster. Five people were listed on it. The first was a pale little girl with platinum blonde hair. The second was a young boy in a karate outfit with a huge smile on his face, showing he had a missing tooth. The third was a slim girl, wearing a ballet outfit, making a heart from her hands. The fourth was a kid in big round glasses looking particularly dead inside, and the fifth and final kid was a boy in a chef's outfit, holding up a bowl of some type of food. He looks happy about what he has made. Chara didn’t need to read the names to recognize the people on the poster. He just needed to imagine the colorful outlines to know who they were. Clover mentioned about going to the mountain to look for them. Chara folded the poster up, and stuck it in his pocket. He sighed, and made his way outside of the house.

The first thing his eyes were drawn to was the tree in the middle of the path to the house. Whenever him and Az came to the Ruins, the tree would always lose more and more leaves. It was weird to see them all fallen. He walked up to the tree and put a hand on it. He drew a sigh, and headed out of the current area. He turned to his left and made his way to an overlook. He always liked the sight from the capital, and the Ruins were a near perfect match of it. Or was the capital made to match the Ruins? Either way, the view was nice. He walked through the doorway to the over look and his eyes wandered to a lone bench nearby atop a pile of red leaves. He ignored it and walked up the stairs to the overlook, viewing the old capital from above. Maybe when Frisk gets some glasses to improve her sight, he could show some of the undergrounds best views. They’re more impressive when you can actually see what you’re looking at.

_I wonder… I said I learned how to do magic, but would being dead for so long diminish that?_ Chara suddenly thought. After his first year of being in the underground, he got curious about if it was possible for him to learn magic. He put all the effort he could into trying, paying more attention to the Dreemurr’s magic lessons than he ever did at school when he needed to learn math or science. Then again, the prospect of learning how to cast a fireball was more appealing than learning division. It was a slow process, and the most he learned before his death was how to summon fire, ice and plant magic, how to make his attacks blue or orange and how to conjure up his own weapon like how Asgore would conjure up a trident. The weapon one was a bit easier to learn, so he tried to remember what he could about the thought process of conjuring up the weapon. He took a deep breath, cleared his mind, and relaxed his stance. He held out a hand, palm wide open, and visualized the weapon before him. After a few seconds, he could feel a slight tickle where he had his hand stuck out. He opened his eyes, and saw three red knives hovering above his hand.

* * *

“Knives?” Chara asked.

A monster similar to Toriel kneeled down next to Chara. The monsters horns and height would normally make someone feel afraid, but despite that, the air they gave off was friendly. “Now that is curious.” The monster spoke. “I knew the outcome would be different somehow, but I never would have guessed that.” The monster stroked his blonde beard in thought.

“Why are there three of them?” Chara asked. “You only summon one trident.”

“I’m not so sure about that either. I knew that magic casted by a human would behave differently. After all, we Monsters have seen that first hand, but I guess after not using magic for so many years would cause they’re abilities to regress.”

“Regress?”

“Am I wrong? Are humans still practicing magic on the surface?”

“Not magic like this, although I suppose pulling a rabbit out of a hat isn’t really _MAGIC_ magic.” Chara replied.

The monster laughed. “No, I suppose that isn’t. But maybe, if we ever find a way back to the surface, we can teach how to perform magic once again.”

“Would that even be possible?”

“Well you’re performing some right now. I don’t doubt others would-”

“I meant going back to the surface. The barrier was made solely to keep you guys down here. I already tried when you guys first showed me it, and Gaster’s been pulling his metaphorical hair out trying to find a peaceful way to break it.”

“Well… Just because something seems impossible, doesn’t mean there isn’t a way.”

“Really?”

“Really! After all, Tori had doubts about you casting magic, and here you are! Granted, it’s not the desirable outcome, but you were still able to do it!”

“I guess that makes sense.” Chara set his hand down, and the knives disappeared. “Although, I’m still concerned.”

“You have every right to be. Now come along, it’s been awhile since we’ve tended the garden.”

* * *

Chara smiled at the memory, and looked out onto his outstretched palm. There, he saw three glowing knives, the red color replaced by a soothing peach. Perhaps something about his Soul taking on a different virtue had something to do with it. Something to ask Gaster maybe. He somehow had the answers to every SOUL related question Chara had, so it would make sense to ask him about this.

“Woah!” 

Chara turned to see Frisk standing at the doorway, gawking at the three blades floating near him. “How long was I out?”

“Not sure. You were gone when I got up from the bed.” Frisk replied. “You weren’t kidding when you said you learned how to do magic! What was that?”

"Well, um..." Chara gestured for Frisk to get closer, and she complied, and then frowned at the form of the magic.

“Um...Why do they look like knives?” 

Chara shrugged. “I'm not sure, but thankfully they don't do much unless I actually cast them with the intent to hurt.” He withdrew the knives and stretched. "Summoning a spectral weapon is actually pretty easy to learn, if you want to try some magic. The process is a lot simpler than summoning flames, ice or various types of plant related magic." Frisk looked at Chara with a confused expression and he shrugged. "That's the type of magic I managed to learn."

Frisk weighed her options, and then sighed. “Not right now. The thought of summoning knives… It feels wrong to me at the moment.”

“The weapon takes a different form depending on the person.” Chara explained. “But if you don’t want to, that’s fine. No ones forcing you.” Chara gave a sincere smile.

“I’m not saying I don’t want to learn. It’s just…” Frisk sighed. “Bad memories.”

Chara didn’t say anything. He just nodded and looked back out to the look of the purple stone buildings ahead. Frisk joined him, and looked out ahead, sighing in defeat. _“I really wished they got me glasses.”_ She whispered.

“Yeah, the views in the underground look better when you can see them.” Chara sighed. “If Gaster is able to make you a pair, I can show you all the best views in the underground.” Chara offered.

“I look forward to that. From now on, all my prayers are for Gaster getting me those glasses!” Frisk joked.

Chara chuckled. “Then we’re going to have to discuss with Mom about seeing the rest of the underground when she gets back!”

“Yeah.” Frisk sounded down for some reason.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“Bullshit.”

Frisk glared at Chara, but just sighed and retreated to the bench at the bottom of the stairs. “It’s just… You call Toriel ‘Mom’ like it’s nothing. I know it’s because she’s basically your adopted parent, but for me… I don’t know. Something feels off about the thought of me seeing her like one.”

Chara took a seat next to Frisk and hummed. “It’s understandable. It took me about a year and a half before I officially saw the Dreemurr’s as my family. It takes time.”

“It’s not just that.” Frisk interjected. “It feels like there’s something more going on.”

“What do you mean?”

Frisk looked at the floor, shifting around nervously. “Promise you won’t get mad at what I’m about to say.”

Chara looked confused. “Why would I-”

“Just… Please promise me.” Frisk interrupted.

Chara looked shocked, but after a brief moment of silence he made an ‘X’ motion over his chest. “I promise.”

Frisk gave a smile, before looking back at the ground. “I noticed you were looking at something oddly in the bedroom. When I woke up, I checked for myself, and saw the other pairs of shoes in the box. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but, I remembered hearing about six children disappearing when they went to the mountain. I brushed it off as a coincidence, but I also remembered what Flowey said. About this world being _‘Kill or Be Killed’._ When you talked about Toriel, the Dreemurr’s, you made them out to be inseparable. But… It feels like… Toriel is hiding something.”

Chara wanted to counter that, but now that he thought about it, something did feel off. “Now that you mention it, she left a note on the table, and it said to stay away from the downstairs area. Downstairs, is a door to the rest of the underground. She said she was going to fix an ‘issue’ when she got back.”

“She didn’t say what the issue was?”

“No. She never really did spend too much time here in the Ruins either. She would mainly stay at the capital.” Chara turned away from the view and leaned back against the wall. “She hadn’t talked about Dad either.”

“Do you think we should ask her when she gets back?” Frisk suggested.

“Yeah. But we need to find the right time. She said she was going somewhere to do something, and if I know her, she’s getting ingredients for her specialty ‘Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie’, that she started to make when I fell down.” Chara tapped a finger to his chin. “We’ll wait till she’s done, mainly because I want to eat some of that pie-”

“It does sound like good pie.” Frisk admitted.

“It’s amazing. But she usually reads a book after she’s done. That may be a good time to bring our questions up. Since she’s going to be awhile, we have enough time to do some investigating of our own.”

“So we’re gonna be acting like detectives?” Frisk asked with glee.

Chara snickered. “You sound like Asriel! But essentially, yes. Let’s head back to the house to get started!”

“Yeah!” Frisk stood up from the bench and ran out ahead. 

Chara followed at a more leisurely pace, but still hurried. He stopped in his tracks when he felt something beneath his foot. He looked down and saw a small, plastic knife. He picked it up, and examined it closely. It looked similar to the one Cass was holding when he first saw her. With a sigh, he pocketed the knife. Something strange was going on, and he wanted to find out what. With Frisk helping out, he was sure to find the issue. He walked out of the room, and met Frisk at the house entrance. He looked at the star.

“Before we confront Mom, we may want to use that.” Chara pointed to the star. “Something tells me that we may need to.”

“Why not right now?”

“Our investigation doesn’t feel dire enough to use it. However, I don’t know how Mom will react, and I get the feeling that this star might help out in case we make a mistake during our questioning.”

“You’re getting really into this.” Frisk pointed out.

Chara’s already rosy cheeks went a few shades darker. “I watched a lot of cop shows when I was still on the surface. I also did stuff like this with Asriel a lot.”

“Nice! Alright then, you’ll be Sherlock Holmes, and I’ll be your Watson!” Frisk declared.

“Now look who’s getting really into it!” Frisk chuckled and went inside. Chara followed shortly after. Toriel is definitely seemed to be hiding something, and it most definitely has to do with the other six humans Chara met in the void. If he could find out what happened to them, maybe he could repay their kindness by saving them. Chara hoped he could find what the two were looking for, and he was determined to help those who helped him.

**_Investigation…START_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the declaration of investigating, you feel as though the spirit of JUSTICE is shining upon you...


	5. Chapter 1: RUINS-4

“The best place to look for clues would be her bedroom.” Chara pointed down the hall.

“That seems a bit obvious, don’t you think?”

“Well…” Chara pulled out the missing poster from his pocket. “I found this tucked in the bookshelf in the living room. It’s a missing poster with five humans on it. I doubt she’d hide anymore in the same location, so we need to widen the search area.” Chara pocketed the poster.

“I suppose that makes sense.” Frisk said thoughtfully.

“Good. Now let’s-” The phone on the table began to go off. Before Chara could react, Frisk went over to answer it.

“Hello? Oh, hi Toriel! My preference? I tend to lean towards Butterscotch. It’s not that I don’t like Cinnamon, it’s just kinda weird. Well, you can either, get zero hints that the Cinnamon is there, or have Cinnamon overpower everything else, but if it’s in something I’ll still eat it, unless it’s all I can taste. Uh-huh. Ok, bye!”

Chara stood by the door awkwardly. “Well… That happened.”

“At least she was kind enough to ask.” Frisk commented.

“That’s Mom for you. Always so considerate.”

Frisk giggled. “Anyway, our investigation?”

“Oh! Right!” Chara turned to go to Toriel’s room, but stopped at the children's bedroom. “I’m gonna put my shoes on, the stone is too cold.”

“Why didn’t you put them on when you woke up?”

Chara opened the door and entered the room, leaving the door open so he could respond. “I didn’t want to wake you up.”

“Oh. Thanks for that, but I’m a light sleeper, so I kind of woke up when I heard you wake.” Frisk quickly walked into the room, threw on her sweater and went back into the hall.

Chara left the room and closed the door. “Well, it’s the thought that counts.”

“I guess.” Frisk went silent as they went down the hall. “What woke you up anyway?”

“Bad… Well it wasn’t a dream, so you could say ‘Bad Memory’.” Chara answered solemnly.

“Oh… I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, I’m used to them by now. Just wish I could go back to sleep afterwards.” Chara stopped at the door to Toriel’s room, and turned back to Frisk. “I remember a few times where I woke Az up when I suddenly sprung awake. I would always tell him it was nightmares, but never had the heart to go further into detail.”

“I understand. After all, did say your home situation wasn't the greatest.” Frisk gave and understanding smile, which Chara returned.

Chara opened the door to Toriel’s room. “I’m not so sure anyone who came to Mt. Ebott had fond memories of the surface.” He stepped into the room and looked around. It looked almost identical to her bedroom at the capital, but the whole room was a nice sky blue. Frisk entered and looked around with wonder, before stopping in front of a cactus.

“Ah, the Cactus. Truly the most tsundere of plants.” Frisk put on a documentary voice.

“Well, you’re not wrong.” Chara said as he opened a book. It was an encyclopedia of subterranean plants. " _"_ _Typha”-A _group of wetland flowering plants with brown, oblong seed pods. Known more commonly as “Water Sausages.”,_ _Huh, I never knew that."

Frisk wandered over to a book sitting wide open on the desk and looked at it. “Oh hey, I can read this!” 

“Really?! What’s it say?”

“Why did the skeleton want a friend?” 

“Oh dear god...” Chara facepalmed. 

“Because she was feeling: BONELY…” Frisk started to snicker.

Chara flipped between resisting to groan or chuckle at the very overused pun. “Don’t tell me you actually found that funny?!” 

Frisk went from snickering to chuckling in an instant. “It’s not that! It just sounded like something Kris would say!”

“Kris?”

“My older brother. He wasn’t the most… Active person, but he was a good guy, and puns were right up his alley.”

Chara was about to point out the use of past tense, but decided against it. It would be wise not to pry too much into her life, especially since she made a trip to the mountain, given the legend it has about it. So he just returned his attention to the bookshelf, and kept looking through different books until something made itself known. After the fifth book, he gave up. “I don’t think there’s anything in the bookshelf.” Chara turned his attention to Frisk, who was flipping through the pages of the book on the desk. “How’s your search?”

“Unfortunately, all the stuff I CAN read are just puns. I thought dads were supposed to be the ones who made those jokes.”

Chara laughed. “Yeah, you would think so.” Chara began looking through the pages, and found that most of them were just standard, diary stuff. He started from the beginning, but found the pages were ripped out. “That’s odd.”

“Could that be a clue?”

Chara flipped through the remaining pages. “I would guess so, since everything afterwards makes no mention of Asgore, but at the same time, there’s no entries of the other fallen humans.”

“Maybe she just didn’t write about them…” Frisk guessed.

“No. She’s the type of person who would write about finding a piece of gold on the street, and then looking for the person who lost it.” Chara explained. “She must’ve met the other humans.”

“So why would she get rid of the pages about them?”

“My guess is that they bring bad memories. If I had a journal that had bits of my life on the surface in the pages, I’d remove those pages to get rid of the memories.”

Frisk looked downtrodden. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

Chara noticed Frisk’s tone, and closed the diary. “Maybe we should wait until Mom gets back. We invaded her privacy enough.”

“Ok…”

The two left the room and walked towards the living room. Chara made a brief comment on the Typha in the hallway, calling it by the more commonly used name to try and bring Frisk’s spirits up a bit. It didn’t work. Frisk sat down on the couch, and Chara went into the kitchen, passing by the dining room, which had two large chairs and a smaller one. He fought back the urge to make a Goldilocks reference and walked into the kitchen proper. He opened the fridge and saw two bars of chocolate. One dark and one milk. “What type of chocolate do you prefer?” He called out.

“Milk.”

“Okay.” Chara grabbed the two bars and joined Frisk on the couch, handing her the bar of milk chocolate. He opened his and took two bites before speaking up. “Are you ok?”

“What brought this on?”

“Well, you seemed kind of down after I speculated on why there weren’t any pages about the other six humans. In fact, I noticed you were starting to look down after you mentioned your brother.”

“Oh… Sorry, it’s just-”

“Bad memories. I could see that.”

“It’s not just that. It’s…” Frisk sighed. “Remember when I sprung up back at the flower bed?”

“It wasn’t that long ago for me to forget, but yeah.”

“It was because the reason why I made my way to Mt. Ebott replayed in my sleep.” Frisk muttered.

“Oh…” Chara set down his chocolate. “You don’t… Have to share if you don’t want to.”

Frisk made no comment.

Chara sighed. “I can gather a few details about why. At first, when the only clue I had were the bruises I saw on your arm when I checked your pulse, and the one on your cheek. And since you get down when your brother is mentioned, I can guess that something must have happened to him. I don’t need the whole story, but I can tell it’s not a happy one. Given the legend the mountain has about it, no one would have a happy reason for making the journey to it.”

Frisk still didn’t make a comment. She just opened up her bar of chocolate and took a bite. Chara seemed dejected, but thought of something. “You want to hear about the time I messed up a pie?”

“That does sound interesting…”

Chara smiled. “It was a few months after I had fallen down. I was still getting used to life with the Dreemurr’s and I felt as though I needed to thank them for helping me. It was still during that time where I didn’t feel it was right to call them my family, but they still needed to be thanked. So I had the idea for Asriel and me to make Toriel and Asgore a pie. Toriel had a Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie recipe written down, and we had most of the ingredients to make it.”

“What went wrong?”

“We didn’t have any butter. I was still adjusting to life underground, where monsters and magic were a thing, so-”

“He thought ‘Buttercups’ could replace the cups of Butter needed in the recipe.” Toriel answered from the entryway. 

“Wait, really?!” Frisk started to laugh.

“Not one of my brightest moments, I’ll admit…” Chara rubbed the back of his head as his cheeks gained a darker hue.

“So when we returned, the two presented the pie, which was horribly burnt, and Asgore took a bite of it.” Toriel continued as she made her way to the kitchen. “He was sick for days, but thankfully the heat diminished some of the poison.”

Chara’s entire face became red as Frisk kept laughing. Toriel entered the kitchen and set a couple of bags down, before speaking again. “So that was when I decided that anytime Chara was going to make something, I had to be in the room so he wouldn’t mess it up.”

Frisk started to calm down. “Wow… Was Asgore mad?”

“No.” Chara answered. “He simply said that accidents happen.”

“Asriel felt bad far longer than Chara did. Chara just laughed it off for the first few days.” Toriel said innocently.

Chara paid no heed to that. “Hey Mom.”

“Yes, my child?”

“Were you… Upset that Asriel wasn’t with us when you found Frisk and me?”

Toriel paused. “Well… I can’t say that I wasn’t, but Human Souls persist longer after death. Even though your combined Souls shattered, it wouldn’t surprise me to find out that Humans can undo their deaths.” Toriel opened the fridge to set the ingredients inside. And then sat down on the chair near the fireplace.

Chara looked over to Frisk, who was watching them both with a hint of sadness. Chara motioned for Frisk to come closer, and when she did, he leaned in, and went into a whisper. _“Maybe we should ask now…”_

_“Do you really think she’ll be ready to answer?”_

_“I don’t think she’d be ready to answer at any point, but we need to know.”_

“What are you two plotting?” Toriel asked with suspicion.

“Why do you assume we’re plotting something?” Frisk raised an eyebrow.

“Because him and Asriel would always whisper something to each other before they did something that got them in trouble.”

Chara sighed. “Yeah, I kind of forgot about that.”

“It’s quite alright, but if you don’t mind me asking, what were you two whispering about?”

Frisk looked over to Chara, who had taken a deep breath. He stood from the couch, and looked Toriel directly in the eyes. “Why exactly are you here in the Ruins?”

Toriel was very shocked to say the least. “W-What ever do you mean?”

“Back when Asriel and me were alive, well mainly Asriel, we would come and run around the Ruins, we asked if you wanted to join us, but you never expressed any interests.”

“Well you see-”

“Also,” Chara interrupted, before pulling out the missing poster from his pocket. “What happened to the other fallen humans? Why was _NOW_ the only time you’ve mentioned Asgore? I thought for sure you’d make a comment about how shocked he’d be if he saw me alive, but you never made a comment about him at all.”

Toriel was deathly silent.

“And on the note,” Frisk added. “You said there was an issue downstairs-”

“Did something happen to the door to the rest of the underground?” Chara finished.

“I-I have to do something real quick!” Toriel shot up from the chair, and quickly left the room, going downstairs.

“Let’s go!” Chara motioned Frisk to join. The two went downstairs, and started following the path, their footsteps echoing down the long purple corridor, before they ran into Toriel, who was standing eerily still.

“You wish to know what Asgore’s been doing, do you not?” Toriel said with a chilling tone.

“Of course! After all these years, of course I would want to know what he’s been up to!” Chara’s voice shook, clearly holding back from shouting.

Toriel didn’t comment, and started moving again. Obviously, the best course of action was to follow. Both the humans were feeling a sense of dread, before they caught up with Toriel again.

“Five others made it here, with the sixth getting lost in the lower parts of the Ruins.” Toriel started. “Each and every one had left.”

Chara and Frisk looked at each other, before turning back to Toriel. “What are you tryin to say?” Frisk asked.

“I’m going to destroy the exit. No one will be able to leave again.” Toriel resumed her movement.

“Wait! Why?! What’s going on?!” Chara called out, before picking up his pace.

“Chara.” Toriel’s voice was bone chilling. “After you and Asriel died. Things changed. Humans are no longer welcome into the underground gracefully. If you or Frisk leave, the Monsters... “ Toriel paused. “Asgore will kill you…”

Chara stopped dead in his tracks. “No. No! That… THAT’S NOT TRUE! HE WOULDN’T HURT A FLY!!”

“Chara…” Frisk was growing concerned for her partner.

The two continued to follow Toriel, Chara growing considerably more anxious with each step. _There’s no way… Dad would never…_ Chara was trying to put his thoughts together. _Why would she…?_ Before Chara could resume his thoughts, the three stood in front of a giant door.

“My children. Please return upstairs.” Toriel’s voice was almost inaudible.

“No.” Frisk answered. “You owe us-you owe Chara, an explanation!”

“Frisk…” Chara was shocked to say the least. He thought for sure Frisk would let him do the talking.

“There’s nothing to explain... “ Toriel muttered. “That is the truth. Plain and simple.”

“No. I refuse to believe that! Chara talked about you both dearly, about how Asgore was peaceful and now you are claiming that Asgore is some kind of murderer! The way Chara talked about him painted a different image than the one you’re trying to paint! Why?!” Frisk’s voice started to crack.

Toriel sighed. “After Asriel and Chara died. Everyone knew the cause immediately. Asgore declared that any human who fell underground would die and that their SOULS would be used to break the barrier. He already has six souls. If either you or Chara died, he would use your soul to break the barrier, and destroy humanity.”

Frisk looked shocked, but Chara was appalled by the explanation. “No. NO! HE WOULDN’T!! HE’S TOO GOOD TO DO THAT!!!” Chara couldn’t hold his shouts anymore.

“It’s the truth my child! If you leave the Ruins, every Monster will be after your Souls! Even if you make it to Asgore, all that awaits is death!” Toriel’s voice was shaking. “I just got you back and I don’t want to lose you!”

“You won’t!” Frisk spoke up. “Because we’ll tell Asgore to stop!”

“What?” Toriel was shocked at the declaration.

“She’s right!” Chara agreed. “We can convince him to stop. I can tell him how that plan isn’t worth it! WE CAN FIX THIS!”

Toriel finally turned to face the two. She was concerned, but eventually, her face became indifferent. “You really think you can stop him?” The two humans nodded. Toriel sighed, and lifted her hands in the air. “Then prove it.”

“What?” The duo said in sync.

“PROVE TO ME YOU CAN SURVIVE!” At Toriel’s challenge, the world went monochrome and she summoned two balls of fire from her hands, and threw them at the humans, who both just barely dodged. Chara patted down a flame on his sweater, before looking at his Mom with fear.

“Mom, please, we don’t have to fight!” 

Toriel didn’t respond, and summoned two lines of fireballs, which hurled themselves to the humans. Chara was able to dodge most of them, but Frisk took the brunt of the assault. She looked ready to give up, but she picked herself back up, and looked Toriel in the eye.

“Toriel, you don't have to fight us! We can solve this peacefully!” Frisk desperately called out, causing Toriel to hesitate for a brief moment.

“Mom please! Just let us go talk to him!” Chara’s voice shook with desperation. “Just let us leave…” After another moment of brief hesitation, Toriel summoned a bolt of fire, and hurled it to Chara. It seemed talking wasn’t doing any good.

“CHARA! LOOK OUT!” Frisk pushed Chara out of the way, and took the full assault of the attack, which pierced through her torso. Chara and Toriel looked in horror, as Frisk found herself in a pitch black location. She looked around wildly, before her SOUL appeared before her. It rose up into the air, before breaking into two. Frisk gasped and clutched her chest, breathing heavily and staring back into her SOUL, as it broke off into tiny pieces, causing her to collapse on the floor, dead.

* * *

**_(YOU CAN’T LET IT END LIKE THIS!)_ **

**_(FRISK! STAY DETERMINED!!)_ **

**_(YOU AND CHARA ARE THE UNDERGROUNDS ONLY HOPE!!!)_ **

* * *

Chara looked around in shock. They were just in the basement. He saw Frisk die! …Frisk! He looked over at the other human, who just stared out into nothing, wide eyed, and shaking. “Frisk…?” He reached out to the other human before his hand stopped in it's tracks when he noticed that Frisk had the ribbon in her hair. _Wait, I thought she didn't have it when..._

“I-I-I…” Frisk was too shaken up to speak. Chara sighed and took Frisk's hand.

“Come on, let’s go inside.” Chara offered. Frisk accepted, and held Chara’s hand in a tight grip. The two went inside, and were even more confused. Toriel was standing like she had when the two first came to the house.

“I’m sure you two would like to get some rest, but the room only has one bed I’m afraid.” Toriel said, showing the door to the bedroom to the two.

“That’s fine.” Frisk muttered. Chara looked at Frisk sadly, while Toriel simply raised a brow.

“Are you sure?” Toriel asked.

“It’ll be alright.” Chara reassured.

“Well, let me know should the situation change.” Toriel gave the two a pat on the head. Frisk slightly flinched, but Toriel didn’t seem to notice. “Have a good rest, my children.” Toriel turned away from the two, and went down to her own room. Chara and Frisk entered the bedroom, and Frisk instantly jumped onto the bed, and slumped against the wall, burying her face into her knees. Chara joined Frisk, deeply concerned about what had happened.

“Frisk, I… I’m sorry. I didn’t think she would…”

“It’s fine.” Frisk replied, her voice muffled.

“No it’s not! You _died,_ and now we’re back as if nothing happened, _SOMEHOW,_ but you’re clearly shaken up!” Chara retorted. “Frisk, just be honest…”

Frisk didn’t move for a solid minute. Eventually, she raised her head up slightly. “I heard him.”

“What?”

“I-I heard my brother. He told me to stay determined, and that you and I were the undergrounds only hope. Then we ended up back here.” Chara remained silent. “Before I came to the mountain, our parents were fighting again. Kris went to try and break it up. He always did. He told me to stay in the living room, and I did, for a bit. Suddenly, I got up, and made my way to the kitchen where the fighting was taking place. When I got there, I saw Kris collapse on the floor. She had stabbed him.”

Chara’s blood went ice cold. He looked at Frisk apologetically, and noticed the tears running down her face.

“After I saw that, I bolted out of the house. I ran and ran all the way to the mountain. I saw the cave and went in. When I saw the hole… I-” Before Frisk could finish, Chara pulled her into an embrace. She stayed still for a moment, before placing a hand on Chara’s arm. “When I saw the attack heading towards you, the memory came back. I didn’t want to see you get hurt, or to see you die like I saw him die. I didn’t think, that it would kill me instead.”

“Frisk…” Chara let go of Frisk, who was still holding onto his arm. “Whatever happened to bring us back here, whatever you heard from your brother, it gave us a second chance. We can start over.”

“But won’t she just react the same way?”

“Maybe, but I think I know how we can convince her to stop. Talking didn’t do anything, and she probably expects us to fight.” Chara paused for a brief second, noting Frisk’s reaction to the claim of Toriel expecting them to fight back. “But maybe, we can show her that we don’t want to.”

“What do you mean?”

“The next time we go down there, we’ll just have to evade her attacks, say nothing, do nothing, and she’ll recognize our willingness to avoid attacking. If we can hold out against her attacks, we can show her we’ll be able to withstand the attacks that’ll come our way in the rest of the underground.”

“So you really think Asgore set aside his peaceful nature?” Frisk asked.

“I know for a fact that he only made that declaration to satisfy the rest of the underground. If he was serious about all this, he would’ve gone to the surface after getting one soul to get the rest. I can tell he’s purposefully avoiding doing just that. A declaration of killing humans who enter the underground would most definitely cause him pain. I know he doesn’t want another war, and we’re going to show him, that there doesn't have to be one!” Chara smiled confidently.

Frisk also smiled at the decree, but quickly went back to frowning. “But what if one of us dies to Toriel again? We’ll probably end up back here.”

“Well, this time, we’re going to have to wait for her to make that pie.”

“Chara I’m serious!”

“I am too! Monster Food is different from Human Food in multiple ways-”

“Like the Spider Donut.”

“But one of the biggest differences is that monster food can heal any injuries!”

“Wait, really?!”

“Yep! One time, I got injured trying to do something stupid, I can’t really remember what, but it hurt badly. Asriel gave me a piece of Monster Candy, and the pain went away!”

“Really?!” Frisk tilted her head and made a confused noise during her shock.

“Yep!” Chara nodded like he said nothing shocking.

“Huh… wait, how are we going to get a slice of the pie? We didn’t give her a chance last time!” 

“Well, according to the note she left, we were free to explore the Ruins. We didn’t do much of that, and when we came here with Mom, the Monsters left us alone. But if she wasn’t with us, they would have attacked.”

“What are you saying?”

“We’ll wander around the Ruins, and when a Monster attacks us, we could use that as an opportunity to practice our dodging! We are going to need it when we face Mom.”

“So, we’ll wander the Ruins, practice, come back and the pie should be finished?”

“Exactly. Getting a slice is easy. Whenever she made one when me and Asriel got tired from our adventures, she’d bring a slice into the room while we were asleep.”

“And since we’ll be practicing with the Monsters in the Ruins, we’ll be tired when we come back-”

“Which means she’ll bring us a couple of slices while we’re resting!”

“You came up with this whole plan just like that?”

“I’m a quick thinker.” Chara chuckled.

“That’s good! It would’ve taken me a few days to think of something like that!”

“Don’t sell yourself short!” Chara said with a smile. He started to get off of the bed, but was stopped by Frisk tugging on his arm.

“Where are you going?”

“To get stuff to sleep on the floor.” Chara replied nonchalantly.

“No! I mean… just... “ Frisk sighed. “Please…”

Chara was taken aback, but when he noticed that Frisk’s eyes were starting to water again, he sighed and returned to his spot on the bed. “Okay.”

Frisk smiled at the gesture, and rested a head on Chara’s shoulder. “Thank you…”

“No problem.” Chara leaned in slightly, resting his head on Frisks.

The two stayed like that for the rest of the night. Drifting off to sleep. The plan had already been set, and Chara knew that neither of them wanted to sit idly by while the rest of the underground was waiting for a new human to appear. He knew that neither of them wanted Asgore’s new declaration to last. They were going to leave the Ruins, no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A lack of PATIENCE leads to unfortunate results...


	6. Heartache

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *You hear a distant ribbit in the distance.  
> *It feels like you should see something, but there's nothing.  
> *you look to the floor, and spot a micro Froggit waving at you.

Chara dodged a flurry of carrot-like bullets in quick succession. He looked Vegetoid, a monster that resembled a freshly picked vegetable of some kind, in the eyes, and rubbed his stomach. The Vegetoid beamed and unleashed another wave of bullets, with a few new green ones, which Chara purposefully ran into. The Vegetoid seemed content, and went away. Chara grinned at his small victory, mainly because it meant he was getting better at dodging, but also because Monsters tend to drop money when they leave, and the money can be used to buy some stuff from the Spider Bake Sale. He picked up the few coins off the ground and checked on Frisk, who was wiggling her hips along with Moldsmal, a gelatinous type monster, literally. What a meaningful conversation! Moldsmal left, and Frisk picked up a few coins it had dropped, which were covered in goop. “How are you holding up?” Chara asked.

“Surprisingly, pretty well!” Frisk replied, wiping off the goop from her coins. “I thought that I wouldn’t be able to see the bullets until it was too late, but entering a fight seems to improve my vision!”

“Really? Huh… I never figured something like that could happen…” Chara hummed in thought.

“Well you have perfect vision…” Frisk snarked.

“You got me there.” Frisk giggled and was about to tease Chara some more, but the phone rang. Chara answered it. “Hello?”

“Oh Chara! I wasn’t expecting you to answer!” Toriel’s voice came from the phone.

“You weren’t?”

“I had called to find out if Frisk prefers Butterscotch or Cinnamon. I knew you would already guess the surprise, and I already know your preference, so I was calling to see if I can find out what she’d prefer.”

“I think she said she pref-”

“Wait don’t tell me!" Toriel interrupted. "She prefers Butterscotch doesn’t she?” 

“Yes, actually.”

“I had a feeling that was the case!” Toriel beamed.

“You did?”

“I’m not sure how to describe it, but as soon as I decided to call, I had a sense of Deja Vu. Like I had learned of that information before. Ah but don’t let me keep you! I’m sure you want to go along with your day! Be safe!” Toriel hung up. Chara looked at the phone with curiosity before putting it away.

“I’m guessing that she hasn’t got back home yet?” Frisk deduced.

“Correct. So we’ll have to go a bit further.” 

“Ok.” Frisk finished cleaning her coins, and looked them over one last time. “Do we have enough to get another Spider Donut?”

“We should.” Chara stretched his arms and cracked his knuckles. “Too bad we don’t have a way into the City. I don’t think my clothes will cut it at Snowdin.”

“Why not?”

“Sweater’s too thin. I’d need something like a hoodie.” Chara started walking to the next area. The two had only made it past the colored switch rooms. “I think all my winter outfits are at the capital. They wouldn’t let me go to Snowdin without any.”

“At least that was a sign that they cared.” Frisk looked on the bright side.

“Yeah. It was nice…” Chara felt a sense of nostalgia. “Anyway, if we make it back to the room where Toriel first found us, and then head back home, she should have made that pie.”

“Sounds good!” The two continued backtracking through the Ruins, encountering many monsters, each one giving the humans a chance to perfect their dodging skills. They had enough money to buy another Spider Donut, which would help in the upcoming confrontation, and eventually, they made it back to where they first came across Toriel. “So now we just… walk back?” Frisk asked.

“That’s correct.” Chara said with a smile.

Frisk sighed. “You weren’t kidding when you said that we’d need to rest when we got back.”

“Yeah, but thankfully we'll be able to withstand her attacks better.” Chara turned to start walking, but his eyes took notice of a bowl in an opposite direction. He went over to the bowl, which held candy. A sign was placed against the bowl reading ‘take one’. Well… It’s a sign, not a cop, so he took two. He gave a candy to Frisk and the two made their way back to the house. Suddenly, the two entered a fight… But there was no one around…

“Uh… Hello…?” No one answered Frisk.

Chara looked around. “Well this is odd.” 

_Ribbit…_

Frisk joined in on the search, but neither of them could see anything. Frisk scratched her head. "Umm..."

“That sounded like Froggit… But… quieter.” Chara observed.

“Maybe it’s a shy one…” Frisk guessed. “Maybe that means it’s even cuter!”

Chara raised a brow. “How does that work?” 

Frisk shrugged. “People always say the shy ones are cute.”

“I’ve always heard to watch out for the shy ones. Since they don’t share their thoughts, you don’t know how dangerous they are.”

“That’s kind of pessimistic, Chara.”

“Don’t blame me, blame the people who told me that.”

_Ribbit…_

The world returned to normal. The two looked at each other and shrugged. Resuming their walk, they encountered a few monsters again, but remained unharmed throughout. They have gotten great at dodging bullets, but dodging fire will still put their skills to the test. Still, it was god to have progress. They made it to the crossroads before the house. Frisk started to go left, but Chara kept walking straight. He went back to the overlook, and picked up the toy knife again. Frisk met him by the entryway, and saw the fake weapon. “Did someone leave that here?” 

“Yeah… But I think I know where to give it back.” Chara pocketed the toy.

“Y’know, I have been curious about something.”

“What?”

“Are the humans that fell down here, the same ones that helped you come back?”

Chara frowned. “I believe so, yes...”

Frisk walked up to Chara and took a hold of his hand. “You want to try and help them, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but at the same time… I don’t know if I’ll like what I see when we leave the Ruins.” Chara replied somberly.

“We’ll make it better. We’re partners after all! When we convince Toriel, there’s nothing we won’t be able to handle!”

“When? Not if?”

“You know we’ll succeed!”

Chara chuckled at Frisk’s confidence. “I don’t get you sometimes.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Frisk folded her arms, acting like a stern parent.

“It’s just… You bounced back up so quickly after what happened last time. If the roles were reversed, I’d still be cowering in the bed, but you… Something about you is different.”

“Well…” Frisk nervously rubbed her arm. “After I thought more about the plan, I started to feel like being a crybaby would only be a distraction. Like I would slow us down. It wasn’t the first time I had that thought and I know it won’t be the last, but…”

“I get it.” Chara smiled, and Frisk returned a smile of her own. “Now come on. I don’t want to pass out on the floor.”

“Of course not!”

The two entered the garden of the home, and made a quick stop to the star. They’re still unsure of what it does, but it brought them back from their failed attempt, so it’d be safe to use it again. They went inside, waved at Toriel, and entered the bedroom. Chara immediately jumped onto the bed, exhaustion finally taking over. Frisk turned out the light climbed into bed.

* * *

It didn’t take long for either human to smell the scent of fresh pie nearby. They got up and looked at the two plates sitting on the floor of the bedroom. Chara held out a fist, which Frisk promptly bumped. They had all they needed to take another shot at exiting the Ruins. Frisk was the first to jump out of bed and grab her plate. 

“Wait, where are we going to keep these?” 

That was a good question. Chara looked around the room, and saw nothing. “Well, we'll have to keep them in Tupperware containers, but for the containers themselves...”

Frisk gave Chara the stink eye. “Dude…”

“Look, I thought of the plan on the spot, I didn’t have time to think of everything.”

Frisk sighed and took Chara's plate. “Well, I’m gonna head to the table. I’ll leave you with the leaving the Ruins discussion.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Frisk left the room, leaving Chara to come up with the way to prompt the confrontation. He sighed and pulled out the Toy Knife and began play with it. Tossing it from hand to hand, throwing and catching it mid-air. He stopped and put it back in his pocket, but then he noticed that it didn’t feel like it was there. He reached into a different pocket, pulling out the Spider Donut and Monster Candy, raised an eyebrow, and pocketed the items again. 

“That’s odd. It doesn’t feel like they’re there…” Chara said aloud. “I feel like I would have noticed something like that before…" Chara shook it off and looked at the wardrobe. He still didn’t feel ready to break the news to Toriel yet, so he decided to distract himself. He expected it either to be empty, or have clothes that wouldn’t fit. What he didn’t expect, were his Snowdin clothes. “Why did she keep these…?” Chara looked over the clothes. They were a little wrinkled, but other than that, they were fine. He decided to see if they still fit. He took off the sweater, which was covered in dirt and was gaining some rips when he got hit by a few bullets, and hung it up in the closet. He paused and took a look at his arms, which were still badly scarred. To anyone else, they would be considered self inflicted, but to the observant eye, the size and shape of the scars were too complex to be self made. He rubbed his arms and sighed, before unbuttoning the dress shirt and hanging it next to the sweater. He threw on a dark grey shirt over his undershirt, and looked at the design on the front. The Delta Rune.

* * *

“What’s the ‘Delta Rune’?” Chara asked.

A strange, elderly turtle monster looked at Chara with a sense of disappointment and confusion. “What are they teaching you kids in school nowadays? Wa ha ha!”

“Well the surface never talked about Monsters, so not a lot…”

“Ha, well you got me there! The Delta Rune is the emblem of our kingdom. The Kingdom of Monsters. Wa ha ha! Ol’ King Fluffybuns can’t name for beans!”

Chara laughed at that last part. “Does it have a special meaning?”

“Yes, actually! The original meaning has been lost, but we do know that the triangles represent us Monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes… Somethin’ else.”

“Riveting.” Chara deadpanned.

“Wa ha ha! Well most people say it’s the ‘Angel’ from the prophecy.”

“Prophecy?”

“Oh yes, The Prophecy.” The monster sat down on a nearby box. “Legend has it, that an ‘Angel’ who has seen the surface will descend from above, and give us freedom.”

Chara went starry eyed. “That sounds nice!”

“Yes, well, lately the people have been taking a bleaker outlook…”

“What do you mean?”

“Lately, some people have taken to calling the winged circle an ‘Angel of Death’. A harbinger of destruction, waiting to ‘free’ us from this mortal realm.” Chara’s stomach dropped. “In _MY_ opinion, when I see that little circle, I just think it looks neat!” The monster cackled.

“It does look nice." Chara admitted, before looking to the floor. "Which one is true?”

“Pardon?”

“Is it an Angel descending to free the monsters from the underground, or an Angel of Death?”

“Frankly, I believe you’re too young to be thinking about that. Besides, who needs to stick to one side? That circle could be whatever you want it to be! It could just be an angel from the heavens, or an egg with wings!” The monster cackled again.

Chara chuckled a bit. “Yeah, I guess.”

Before either could make any further comment, Toriel appeared before the two. She seems more regal. “Oh, there you are Chara! We were looking everywhere for you!”

Chara had forgotten that the Dreemurr’s were showing him the sights. “Sorry…”

Toriel sighed. “It’s quite alright. I just hope you weren’t causing trouble for Gerson. Or the other way around.”

“No trouble here! He was just asking a couple of questions, is all!”

“That’s good to hear. Come on Chara, we still have so much to show you!”

* * *

Chara walked out of the bedroom, equipped in his Snowdin attire, which was a jacket similar in color to his sweater, including the stripe, and the Delta Rune shirt. He walked to the living room, where Toriel sat down on a chair by the coffee table, and Frisk was sitting on the couch, and a quick look at her expression showed she failed to resist eating the pie. Toriel looked up from her book, and let out a loving sigh. “That outfit brings back so many memories. You and Asriel really loved to wonder around Snowdin.”

Chara chuckled. “I liked the snow. That was one of the few things I missed from the surface.”

“I prefer Spring and Fall. Not too hot, not too cold, just a nice balance. And crunchy leaves.” Frisk commented.

“As long as it wasn’t summer I was happy. I swear it gets unnaturally hot during in the summer...” Chara sighed.

“That is weird…” Frisk replied thoughtfully.

Toriel giggled at the exchange. “This is nice. It feels like nothing has changed.”

“Well…” Chara still wasn’t sure how to spark the conversation, but now seemed like a good time as any to try. “It almost feels like it.”

“Why do you say that, Chara?” Toriel asked.

Chara took a breath. “We’re still missing Dad.”

Toriel lost her composure. “Oh! Well… You see Chara…”

“Mom. Just give it to me straight. Why isn’t Dad here with you?” Toriel remained silent, getting up from her chair and walking downstairs. Chara looked over to Frisk, who already left the couch and quickly went into the kitchen. She emerged with the two chocolate bars and a Tupperware filled with a pie.

“I couldn’t resist the pie.” Frisk said sheepishly. "But I did put yours in a container!"

Chara chuckled. "Well, it's fine if you couldn't resist. But I do know how to take it with us!" Chara put the container in a pocket his jacket had. Frisk tilted her head, but Chara just pointed to the stairs. "Exiting the Ruins, remember?"

“Right, we need to hurry before she destroys the door.” Frisk nodded. The duo followed Toriel downstairs, and finally met her at the door to the rest of the underground. Toriel turned to face Chara, with sorrow filling her eyes. 

“Chara… After you and Asriel died, Asgore declared that humans would no longer be spared. Any human that falls underground, would die.” Even though he already knew this information, it still killed Chara inside. “If you, Frisk or both of you leave the Ruins, you’ll be hunted relentlessly. I’m going to destroy the exit, to make sure that won’t happen. I’ve seen 5 other humans leave, and one disappear in the lower sections of these Ruins." Toriel wiped a tear from her eyes. "I can’t put either of you at risk.”

“Toriel…” Frisk was at a loss.

Chara sighed. “Mom, let us leave.”

Toriel's expression darkened. “But why?!”

“We can go convince Dad to stop this! Everything can go back to normal. We can make sure of it.” 

“Chara… I can’t. I just got you back, I can’t afford to lose you again!”

Chara looked at the ground. Without even looking, he stopped Frisk from speaking. “If Asriel was with us, you would let us leave.” Chara didn’t break eye contact with the floor.

“What?!” Toriel and Frisk said in unison.

Chara still didn’t raise his head. “If Asriel was with us, and if he had heard that statement, and he wanted to help stop this, you would let him. Because he’s your son. Because having both of us back would convince everyone more easily. _Because you wanted him back more than me…”_ Toriel looked at Chara with shock and grief. Frisk reached out and held Chara’s hand. He finally broke his gaze with the ground, and looked at Toriel directly in the eyes. “But I know we can convince him to stop either way.”

“I…” Toriel was at a loss for words. “No… You’re right.”

“Wha-”

“I’ll admit, I was hoping Asriel would come back, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t excited to see you. That doesn’t mean you have any less of a chance at convincing Asgore to stop.” Toriel wiped some tears from her eyes. “Besides, the Ruins are fairly small, with not much to do in terms of activity. It’s hardly a place to keep someone.”

“Toriel…” Frisk said somberly.

“And it was presumptuous of me to assume you would want to stay in one place. You always did like to move around.” Toriel sighed. “I’ll let you leave the Ruins, but… Please, don’t come back unless you’ve stopped that madness.”

“What about you?” Chara’s voice shook.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve gotten fairly used to the Ruins, and I’m not ready to show myself to the other Monsters again. I doubt they even wish to see their cowardly queen.” Toriel gave a dry chuckle, before bringing the two humans in for a hug. Chara and Frisk returned the embrace, and the three stayed like that for an extended period of time. Toriel finally broke it off, and ran her hands through the hair of the two humans. “Please watch over each other.”

“We will.” Chara said.

“We’re partners, after all.” Frisk reassured, causing Chara to smile.

Toriel smiled at the exchange, and made her way back upstairs. She gave them one last look, and waved. “Be safe, my children…” Chara and Frisk waved her off, and stepped through the giant door leading to the rest of the underground.

* * *

Frisk looked over at Chara, who was silent during their trek through the corridor. She took a hold of his hand, breaking him out of his trance. He looked over at Frisk, who wore a face of worry.

“Are you going to be ok Chara?”

“Yeah… It’s just… I imagined the outcome would be like this, but I guess reality hurts worse than imagination, huh?”

“Yeah.” Frisk went silent. The two continued their trek through the corridor, the echoing sounds of their footsteps filling the silence, before stumbling upon a familiar looking scenery, with an all too familiar flower. “FLOWEY?!” The two said in sync.

“Clever… Very clever.” Flowey’s voice was mocking. “So you spared the life of a single person.”

“We spared more than just Toriel you jerk!” Frisk retorted.

“Sure you spared her physically. But what about Chara’s little statement? That is sure to wreck her emotions immensely!” Flowey’s face twisted itself into an image of Toriel. “She might even lose hope. And you know what happens to Monsters who lose hope, don’t you Chara?” The flower’s face changed into a distorted version of Toriel’s.

“Your ‘Kill or Be Killed’ Statement is false you weed!” Chara’s voice became menacing. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to rip you out of the ground. No matter what happens, or what you say, Toriel will always have hope. If she didn't, she would have fallen down long before Frisk and I showed up.”

“False! Don’t think I didn’t see what happened! Toriel only proved my point!”

Chara’s brave face fell, and his blood went cold. “What are you-”

“Your friend died. By Toriel's hand” Chara jumped back, and Frisk cowered behind him. “All because she wanted to protect you from the attack.” 

“How… How did you know about that?” Frisk’s voice trembled. 

“You think you’re the only ones with that power? The power to SAVE and LOAD? The power to RESET? I had that power once. It was intoxicating, but suddenly, I couldn’t RESET anymore. I couldn’t LOAD anymore. Somehow, your desires for this world overcome mine…”

Chara looked distraught, and remembered the glowing stars. “You mean those were…”

“SAVE points!” Flowey laughed. “After all these years… You really have become an _IDIOT!_ Oh well, things change. We're both living proof of that. I have my eye on you two. It’s only a matter of time before you get bored. Before you go back. Before you get so frustrated with this world, that you decide to have some _REAL FUN!”_ Flowey burst into a laugh that seemed to go on for far longer than his other laughs, before he disappeared below the earth.

“C-Chara…?” 

“I think we just discovered the real threat…” Chara muttered.

“What do we do?”

Chara stayed silent for a few seconds, before straightening his posture, exuding confidence. “We prove the damn weed wrong.”

Frisk took a deep breath through her nose, and returned to Chara’s side, desperately clutching onto his hand. “Right.” She nodded.

The two walked over to the door ahead. With a push, the door opened, and a blast of cold air filled the room. There was no going back now. Chara and Frisk went through the door, and it shut behind them.

  
  
  


**_End of Chapter 1_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The real Heartache for this version is the one Chara caused with his little statement. I wanted to make it so that Chara could actually talk down Toriel, but that doesn't mean all the other boss fights will be that easy.
> 
> Especially Mettaton.
> 
> Papyrus is the understanding and supportive extrovert, who knows that you need your space when you ask for it. Mettaton is the one who thinks taking you to seven parties in a single night is enough to break you out of their introvertedness, when it reality it just breaks you.
> 
> Chara is just gonna suffer when the two finally meet.
> 
> Also, Chara got a costume change! After the next chapter, I'll be drawing the designs of both Chara, Frisk and the five humans (Just look up Undertale Yellow for Clover's design.)
> 
> Speaking of the next Chapter: It's gonna be different, meaning it won't start off the Snowdin arc.


	7. Interlude

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *You begin to wonder what the six fallen children are up to in the void.  
> *You enter the void, and find nothing.  
> *You find that odd, and decided to check back up on Chara and Frisk.  
> *You take notice of something different...  
> *They weren't there before....

“If there’s one thing I was expecting, it wasn't that…” Sam pushed up their glasses.

“I’m happy they were able to leave without fighting!” Cass beamed.

“Miss Tori seemed pretty upset though.” Luke commented.

“She lost Chara and Asriel, and watched five of us disappear, it’s understandable.” Alyssa said thoughtfully.

“Eh, I still prefer Dalv.” Clover twirled their ghostly gun.

“Aw, come on Clover! She’s really nice!” Alex prodded at the western dressed kid.

“I only got to see her for like, 3 minutes at best, and Dlav wasn’t as obsessive. Well maybe if I was corn he would be.”

“It’s understandable. You had to go through completely different parts then we did. Snowdin is next. Maybe there will be more familiarity there.”: Sam said emotionless. They never really did show any emotion. “Then maybe we wouldn’t have to bear with you desperately trying to point out another Micro Froggit.”

Alyssa watched Frisk and Chara closely. Frisk grabbed Chara’s hand out of concern, but whatever word’s she had spoken were drowned out by Alyssa’s high pitched squealing. The five other children covered their ears, all thoroughly done with Alyssa’s bullshit. Even Cass and Alex, who really have no idea what’s going on were getting tired of it.

“Do you have to do that, every time they start holding hands?!” Luke questioned.

“Hey, I’m the one who’s been noticing the signs they’ve been throwing at each other, so I have the right to be excited when they get affectionate!”

“What signs?! They’re two humans who are traversing an underground kingdom filled with monsters, they’re going to partner up, but that doesn’t mean there has to be romance!” Sam shouted, or at least… raised their voice a bit. "There are no signs!"

“You guys are just blind to romance!” Alyssa huffed.

“We’re not hopeless romantics making deviant jokes.” Clover pointed out, to which Alyssa just stuck out her tongue.

“He has a point. Because of you, we owe Cass and Alex ‘The Talk’...” Luke said dryly. Alyssa huffed some more and turned away from the others.

Clover laughed. “Look, just tone it down. If our ears could bleed, they’d have done so. Just please dial it-OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!” Everyone looked to where Clover was angrily shouting at, and saw Flowey. They all gave a collective groan, and tuned him out. 

“Ok, so when they’re done talking to that little… creature, we’ll be seeing Snowdin again. Alex are you going to be alright?” Sam asked.

“Yeah, why?” Alex asked, tilting his head and raising a brow.

Sam stared at the young boy with a confused expression. “Because you died there?”

Alex chuckled. “I’m not gonna hold a grudge on an environment. Especially if it looks like Snowdin!”

Sam sighed and adjusted their glasses. “Alright then…”

“I’m kind of upset.” Cass said suddenly.

“Why?” The rest asked.

“They can hear our voices when they touch those sparkly thingies, but they can’t see us.”

**_*No need to worry! There’s someone in Snowdin who can point you out to the two of them._ **

Cass looked up and saw a tall looming figure. They’re head was almost egg shaped, and their lopsided, frozen grin was almost haunting, with a crack from their left eye merging into it, while a crack on their right eye ascended to the top of their head. Cass smiled at the figure. “Hello!”

**_*Hello young one! Rest assured, when they reach Snowdin, a special someone will take notice of you!_ **

“How can you be sure of that?” Sam asked.

**_*Because he’s been able to see me. He may not remember who I once was, but he’s still able to take notice._ **

“Whatever you say W.D.” Luke made finger guns.

**_*Still, I am a little surprised._ **

“At what?’ Clover asked, still glaring at Flowey.

**_*My condition makes it so I am able to see many possible outcomes, but not once did I see the Toriel confrontation end that smoothly. Perhaps this is a sign that all will work out in the end._ **

“Can you at least tell us what you’re planning?” Sam adjusted their glasses.

“Can you tell us if Chara and Frisk end up dating?!” Alyssa stared at the figure with stars in her eyes.

“The former would be more appropriate for the situation.” Sam insisted.

**_*If I say what happens, it could undo everything. I’m just glad that giving the human prince a new chance at fixing his mistakes is turning out for the better. The others were doubtful, but I for one am glad of the changes I’m already beginning to see._ **

“Are the others like you?” Alex asked.

**_*Yes and no. There are some who’ve had my experiences, but never interfered with this story directly, and there are others… That are scum…_ **

“Scum?” Alex was confused.

“It means they’re bad people.” Sam answered.

**_*Correct, and those ones would rather experiment on their own creations rather than raise them. I don’t like talking to them that much, but sometimes I have no choice._ **

Clover watched as Flowey burrowed into the earth, and lets out a small puff of anger.

**_*I can assure you, that flower isn’t as bad deep down._ **

“Save it.” Clover brushed the figure off. “Let’s just get to Snowdin already.” The other children looked at Clover with disapproval, but the figure chuckled.

**_*Alright then. Enjoy the scenery. It was always their favorite._ ** The figure began to fade out. _*****_ ** _Say hi to Papyrus for me…_ **

“Papyrus? Like the paper?” Sam tilted their head.

“Papyrus must be the person he was talking about!!” Cass said excitedly.

“Seems like it. Let’s remember to say hi for him!” Alyssa smiled.

“He didn’t tell us his name. I doubt Papyrus would know if we just said W.D. says hi.” Sam commented.

“Don’t be such a spoilsport!” Luke wrapped an arm around Sam, who lifted the arm off without even looking at it.

Alex giggled at the two’s antics. “NEXT STOP: SNOWDIN!!!” The children followed as Chara and Frisk stepped out into the snowy forest beyond the door, and were excited to see how the two would get by in the new locations opened up to them.


	8. Chapter 2: SNOWDIN-1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh look, Frisk backstory! that's pretty neato!

Of course the first thing that would attack Frisk and Chara was the wave of the freezing cold that they were met with when they first stepped out into the snowy forest. Frisk was shivering after just a few seconds, and could feel her ears and nose starting to freeze and become numb. She began to wish her sweater was a bit thicker. _Then again, it wasn’t like I came to Mt. Ebott expecting to go on a fantasy-esque journey. Or even live for that matter…_

She felt a tap on her shoulder and faced Chara, who had begun imitating a dragon, as the cold made his breath visible. Frisk giggled at the childish action, but it felt nice to not have to go through this alone. She watched Chara chuckle for a bit, before he started shivering and pulled the hood to his jacket up, lucky bastard. It was odd to see more color on his face that wasn’t caused from being embarrassed like when Toriel had filled in the blanks of Chara’s pie story. His cheeks were always naturally rosy for some reason, but thanks to the cold his nose had gained some color as well, with his cheeks only glowing brighter. Frisk could feel a slight warmth from looking at Chara, before the icy air brushing against her legs brought her back to being pretty damn near frozen. “Of course my current outfit doesn't do jack to stop the cold!"

“Unless they had some fur lined up inside, or were made of warmer material, they wouldn’t do much good. I am a current example of that fact. My legs are frickin’ freezing…”

Frisk made a slight sound of amusement, before she heard something from a nearby bush. “What was that?”

“Hmm?” Chara looked to where Frisk was pointing. “Oh, probably one of the cameras. Gaster set them up after I fell in case anyone else happened to show up.”

“Hmm…” Frisk hummed in thought, before stepping closer to Chara. “If we stick together, we can share body heat.”

“Makes sense. Come on.”

The two made their way down the long path, snow crunching beneath their feet. They walked past one of the stars, feeling no sense of danger nearby, and circled around a sturdy branch. Frisk kept quiet, but Chara kept humming something. Frisk looked at the trees that somehow existed, and grinned like an idiot. Chara seemed to notice.

“What are you smiling about?” Chara questioned.

“You’re walking in the woods. There’s no one around and your phone is dead-”

“Oh my god…!”

“Out of the corner of your eye, you spot him, Shia lab-” **_CRUNCH_ **The duo turned to see who interrupted their memeing, and saw that the sturdy branch had been snapped like a twig. “That’s not good…” Frisk said.

“No it is not.” Chara agreed.

The two picked up the pace, hoping that the thing that broke the branch would be too slow. They stopped in their tracks when they heard footsteps that weren’t theirs. Frisk looked around wildly, but Chara just took her hand and the two nearly broke out into a sprint. They reached a bridge, but froze in fear when the presence was right behind them. **“humans. don’t you know how to greet a new pal? how’s about one of you turn around, and shake my hand…”**

_“Wait a minute…”_ Chara whispered.

_“Chara…?”_

Before Frisk could ask any other questions, Chara flipped around, grabbed the monster by the arm, and removed a whoopie cushion from the hand of the skeleton in front of them. They looked offended, even though they had a smile glued to their face. “We got to stop meeting like this Sans…” Chara said flatly.

“aw, come on kid, that’s one of my best jokes!” Sans winked… somehow, despite being a skeleton.

“It was funny the first time, but the other three times after that, it got old.”

“maybe for you.” Sans laughed.

“I feel like a kid who’s mom just ran into an old friend…” Frisk muttered.

“Yeah that might happen a lot. Sorry…” Chara said sheepishly.

“well may i just say, it’s weird seeing you with another human. you were pretty adamant about your stance with them when we would hang out.”

“Things change Sans.”

“clearly.” Sans fixed his gaze on Frisk. “i’m sans. sans the skeleton.”

“Frisk.” She greeted the skeleton.

“ICE to meet you, frisk.”

Chara groaned, but Frisk had started to giggle.

“anyway, i’m a sentry here in snowdin. i’m supposed to be on the lookout for humans, but i don’t really care about capturing anybody.”

“Sentry? What happened to being a-”

“now my brother, Papyrus, he’s a human hunting fanatic.” Sans interrupted Chara. “in fact… i think that’s him over there!”

The humans turned to see a skeleton in the distance approaching. “Is that bad?” Frisk asked.

“not at all. i got an idea.” Sans motioned them to cross the bridge. The bars were made way too wide for some reason. “one of you hide in my sentry station, while the other hides behind that conveniently shaped lamp.” Frisk instantly hid behind the lamp, while Chara made his way to the station. Frisk was hidden behind the lamp just well enough, that she could take a small peak, and not be noticed by the new skeleton in front of Sans. He looked to be about a head taller, wearing some kind of… something. The only parts of the new skeletons outfit she actually understood were the gloves, scarf and boots, all of which were a crimson red.

“‘sup bro?”

“YOU KNOW WHAT’S UP BROTHER! IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T RECALIBRATED YOUR PUZZLES!”

“sorry ‘bout that. been too busy staring at this lamp from my station. pretty interestin’ right?”

“SANS I DON’T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR GAMES! YOU NEED TO GET WORK DONE!” Papyrus’ voice was loud, but it was clear that he wasn’t shouting. In fact, his voice had a hint of concern in it.

“relax Paps. i got a ton of work done today! A SKELE-ton!”

Frisk had to cover her mouth to keep herself from giggling like an idiot. She felt at home for some reason. Something about these two caused a wave of nostalgia to wash over Frisk.

* * *

“Hey Kris, did you finish your maze?” Frisk looked over to her brother, who was playing with a deck of cards. At first glance, you wouldn’t know the two were siblings. Especially since Frisk looked like none of her family. For example, Kris has peach skin and brown flat hair which covers his left eye completely and tied into a small ponytail, while his right eye was sinister looking with it’s blood red color and foreboding shape in general. Frisk on the other hand, had black, fluffy hair, tan skin and purple eyes. It didn’t matter though. Kris was her brother, and she was his sister. No one could change that fact.

“Yeah, take a look.” Kris handed Frisk his maze. Of all the art projects their class had, this was the most tame one. Frisk looked over the paper which held Kris’ maze, which was just a circle saying ‘start of maze’ with a line connecting to a teardrop shape saying ‘end of maze’. Frisk looked at her brother with zero amusement.

“Kris, this isn’t a maze, it’s a baby mode tutorial.”

“I guess you could say I’m the-” Kris pulls out a random card from his deck. “Rules Card…”

It took Frisk a few seconds, before she started to laugh at the joke. “Oh my god, that was so bad!”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“It’s a pity laugh.” Frisk replied, still laughing. “Where do you even get those jokes anyway?”

“I get my best material on the DECK.” Kris held up his deck of cards as he finished his sentence, causing Frisk to laugh some more.

“You’re the worst!” Frisk said in between her laughs, lightly punching her brother on the shoulder.

“I know I am. How’s your maze coming along?” Kris asked.

“Perfectly!” Frisk held up her maze with triumph. Kris looked it over, and a nervous look grew on his face.

“You really don’t want people to escape do you?”

Frisk rolled her eyes. “Come on Kris, it’s not that hard!”

“Not for you. You made it. For anyone else they might as well be trying to find a needle in a haystack.”

“Well maybe if you put more effort into yours, mine will look easier.”

“Whatever. You’re the resident artist in the family. I just took this class because I needed to.” Kris began to mess with the cards again.

“You still need to do a good job, otherwise you might get held back.” Frisk warned.

Kris scoffed. “Yeah, because the school system really cares if someone doesn’t do good at art. Unless you’re a jock or a rocket scientist, no one will bother with you.”

“Kris… You know what will happen if we have anything below a ‘C’...” Frisk reminded him.

Kris didn’t respond. He gripped the deck of cards till his knuckles were white, and he hovered a hand over his left eye. “Right… Sorry…”

“Don’t apologize. In fact, let me help! I can make it easier!”

“Thanks…”

“No problem!” Frisk put on a brave, innocent smile, which hid the fact that she was terrified of what’ll happen if either of them show up with below average grades. She flipped Kris’ paper over to the blank side, and handed him the pencil. “It doesn’t have to be complex, just decent.”

“Right.”

“Just put a little more-”

* * *

“BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus walked away, before briefly returning. “HEH…!” And off he goes again.

“ok, you two can come out now!”

Frisk moved from her hiding place, finally being safe enough to let loose her held in laughter. “TIBIA honest, he seems pretty cool.”

Sans chuckled. “ain’t that the truth.”

Chara finally emerged from his hiding spot behind Sans’ sentry station, and threw a snowball at both of them. Frisk just barely dodged, while Sans somehow caused the snowball to fly back at Chara, who ducked behind the station before it hit. He walked away from his position and met up with the two. “I can’t remember, was Papyrus just a babybones when I was alive?”

“yeah, he wasn’t allowed to be out much, so that’s probably why you don’t remember him.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

“So we can just go? No troubles?” Frisk asked.

“yep. although, my bro’s been kinda down lately. so maybe seeing a human will brighten up his day, y’know?”

“He doesn’t seem dangerous.” Chara pointed out. 

“It could be fun too!” Frisk said joyfully. “So we would just need to go along with whatever he does?”

“that’s the basics, yes. thanks for helping. see you two later.” Sans waved them off as he went in the opposite direction.

The two looked to the actual path Papyrus went down, but when they turned to point it out to Sans, he was gone. “That’s new.” Chara commented.

“Should we be concerned about that?” Frisk wondered.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let’s carry on.”

“Yeah.” The two continued down the path, and saw one of the SAVE points. They brought their hands to it, and a new, very energetic voice spoke out.

**_Seeing a wonderful snowy forest in a place like this fills you both with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION!!_ **

**Frisk and Chara**

**FILE SAVED**

**Both LV 1**

Frisk was the first to step away from the SAVE point, and noticed a box across from the star. She went over and opened it, seeing an old, faded glove within. She pulled it out, and looked it over. It was a bit too small for her. “Hey Chara, come here a sec.”

“What’s up?” Chara looked at the box. “Oh, one of these!”

“Why are you so excited about the box?”

“It was something that Gaster made. You put an item in one box, and it appears in a different box in another area. He called them ‘Dimensional Boxes’.” He explained eagerly.

Frisk was surprised to say the least. “Wow.”

“Wow indeed.” Chara noticed the glove. “Was that in the box?”

“Yeah, but it’s too small for me.” Frisk grabbed Chara’s hand to see if the glove would fit him. “Nope.”

“Well you tried. Let’s keep it though. I have a feeling I know who it belongs to.” Chara suggested. Frisk nodded and put the glove in her pocket. The world went monochrome, and the two were ambushed by some giant blue bird. _“Showdrake?”_ Chara whispered.

“Hey you two! Listen to this!” Snowdrake cleared their throat. “My fave ice cereals: frosted!” Chara cringed at the terrible excuse of a joke, and Frisk gave a hollow laugh. “Laughing!? YOU’RE LAUGHING!! HA! DAD WAS WRONG!!! HAHA!!!” Snowdrake flew off, dropping a few coins, and returning the world to normal.

“How did he not tell that was a pity laugh?” Chara asked.

“I’m not sure, but let’s not tell him that.” Frisk answered.

“Agreed.” The two continued down the path, and saw a familiar sight of two skeletons.

“SO AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDY-” Papyrus stopped and looked at the humans. He looked to Sans, who had turned to look at the humans, who then turned to Papyrus, who turned to look at the humans. This went on for awhile and the two skeletons started to spin around really fast. Eventually, they stopped. “SANS, ARE THOSE-WOAH...OK, JUST GOTTA…” Sans fell to the floor, while Papyrus was still stumbling around. “JUST LET ME SIT DOWN FOR A BIT.” Papyrus tripped over Sans. The two humans looked at each other, and then back to the skeletons. Frisk walked over and helped Papyrus up, and Chara helped Sans up. Papyrus shook off any snow he had on him, and pulled Sans aside. _“SANS, ARE THOSE TWO… HUMANS?!”_

_“i think those are rocks Paps.”_

Papyrus looked past the two humans and looked out onto two rocks that were behind them. Frisk and Chara took notice of the rocks as well, and were very surprised, confused, and scared by how accurate the rocks looked to the humans. Even the stripes on their clothing were present. Papyrus was dejected. “OH.”

“look in front of the rocks.” Sans pointed out.

Papyrus did just that. “OH MY GOD!!!” He leaned closer to Sans. _“THOSE ARE HUMANS, RIGHT?”_

“yeah.”

“YES!” Papyrus cleared his metaphorical throat. “HUMANS, YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU, AND TAKE YOU TO THE KING’S CASTLE, AND THEN, THEN… I’M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THAT. NEVERTHELESS, PREPARE YOURSELVES FOR MY DASTARDLY PUZZLES, WHICH WILL MAKE ALL THE EASIER TO CAPTURE YOU, SO THAT I CAN FINALLY BE PART, OF THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!” Papyrus continued down the path.

“Well that was something…” Chara muttered.

“hey, don’t worry about it. i’ll be keeping an eyesocket out for ya!” Sans followed Papyrus.

“Hey, maybe we get to do puzzles that aren’t labelled or done for us!” Frisk happily said.

Chara raised a brow. “You really like puzzles, don't you?” 

“Yeah, well, I needed something to do every once and awhile, y’know?” Frisk sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

“Don’t worry, I get it. I’m actually kind of curious about these puzzles myself. Come on, we don’t want to keep them waiting!”

“Of course not!” Frisk grabbed Chara’s hand and the two made their way to Papyrus’ first puzzle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Sans dizzyness inspiration: https://www.deviantart.com/zarla/art/Wheeeeeeee-576450661


	9. Chapter 2: SNOWDIN-2

Frisk and Chara stumbled upon another sentry station, with a sign nearby. Chara looked at the sign. “Absolutely no moving.”

“So are we stuck here forever?” Frisk joked.

“Seems like it. This is our new home now! I declare the tree right there to be my own castle!” Chara struck a pose.

“Your tree castle is no match for my rock army!” Frisk declared, striking a military-esque pose.

“Impossible!” The two began laughing at their antics. Frisk liked this. It was like a childhood she never had was making itself present. When the two stopped, they glanced at the sentry station. Frisk kept squinting at a certain part near the roof.

“Is… That a dog head?”

“Yep.” Chara replied.

“Does that mean there are dog monsters?!” Frisk was getting excited.

“Yes, and they’re all weak to pets! So we both know what we’re doing when we see them!”

“Heck yeah!”

“Doesn’t seem like one is here though, which means we’re freely able to move on!” Chara took like… Two steps to be proven wrong, as a black and white dog suddenly made it’s presence known, looking around the front of the sentry station with suspicion. 

“Did something move?” Chara stood incredibly still, with Frisk hanging behind, not knowing what to do. “I can only see moving things…”

_“Frisk, stay still.”_

Chara didn’t need to tell Frisk twice, so she stood where she was, unmoving, which didn’t help the fact that it was too damn cold.

“If something _WAS_ moving, for example, a human… I’ll make sure it never moves again!” The dog monster drew a pair of daggers, still looking around suspiciously. “Don’t move an inch.” The world turned monochrome, and one of the daggers began glowing cyan, and swiped at Chara’s position, but nothing happened. Chara saw his chance and gave the monster a small pet. “WHAT?! I’VE BEEN PET?!?! PETPOTPATPETPOTPATPOT!!” The world returned to normal, and the dog looked very afraid. “S-somthing p-p-pet me! S-s-something that w-wasn’t m-moving!! I’m gonna need some dog treats for this!” The monster lowered themselves back into their sentry station.

Frisk let out a sigh of relief and returned to Chara’s side, who was starting to walk past the station. “What was that attack?”

“Blue attack. The way to get past them is to remain unmoving. Think of it like a stop sign, but imagine the stop sign was blue. When you see a blue attack, think of a blue stop sign.”

“That… That’s actually pretty clever!”

“Thanks! I came up with that myself when I first learned!” Chara kept walking, and then started sliding on a patch of ice he didn’t see. He landed on his back in front of a sign.

“Are you okay?!” Frisk was concerned.

“I’m good!” Chara gave a thumbs up. He sat up and looked at the sign. “We continue east.” Chara pointed in the direction they were headed.

“Okay.” Frisk stepped on to the ice and propelled herself forward, stopping at the other side and looking back to Chara, who looked annoyed.

“Oh no, don’t mind me. Please, continue being a show-off.” Chara said sarcastically.

“Sorry…”

“Don’t apologize, I just wasn’t looking where I was going.” Chara slid up next to Frisk. “Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being a show-off. It can be endearing sometimes, depending on the person.” Chara gave Frisk a nudge on the shoulder.

Frisk gave Chara a warm smile, as his words made her feel warm inside. _There’s that feeling again. What is it?_ Before Frisk could delve further into her thoughts, she was greeted by the sound of Papyrus berating Sans up ahead. But her attention was grabbed by the small rabbit in a oversized blue sweater and beanie. They seemed to be looking ahead, before turning to the two humans.

"Oh, hi there!" The monster gave them a wave. "The short skeleton over there just got done telling me about orange attacks."

"Orange attacks?" Frisk asked curiously. Chara quirked an eyebrow, but that was probably because the monster said Sans told them about the attacks.

The monster nodded. "He said that, traffic lights have three lights on them. The third light, the green one, means 'GO', the first one, the red one, means 'STOP', and the middle light, the yellow one, means 'YIELD'." The humans nodded. "In order to dodge an orange attack, you must be moving, and he said to think of it like..." The monster took a few seconds. "Red and yellow lights togehter make orange, then you obey the rule of the leftover green light, which means GO." The humans made faces of confusion.

"Wouldn't it be easier to just imagine the green light as an orange light?" Chara finally said.

The monster took a few seconds to process what Chara said. "Huh...That does sound easier to imagine..." The humans glanced at each other, shrugged, and then continued down the path, where Sans and Papyrus were, in front of a medium sized clearing.

“YOU’RE SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!” Papyrus chastised Sans.

“that’s called sleeping bro.”

“EXCUSES EXCUSES!” Papyrus turned and saw the two humans. “OH HO! THE HUMANS ARRIVE! IN ORDER TO STOP YOU, ME AND MY BROTHER HAVE CREATED VARIOUS PUZZLES. I THINK YOU’LL FIND THIS ONE QUITE ‘SHOCKING’! FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE, ELECTRICITY MAZE!”

“A MAZE?!” Frisk went starry eyed.

Chara jumped at Frisk's enthusiasm. “Woah, you good Frisk?”

“MY WORD, SUCH PASSION!” Papyrus holds up an orb. “WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, YOU WILL EXPERIENCE A SHOCK! SOUND FUN? BECAUSE, THE AMOUNT OF FUN YOU’LL HAVE, IS PROBABLY RATHER LOW I THINK.” Papyrus put the orb away. “OK YOU CAN GO AHEAD NOW!” Frisk happily started the maze, but bumped a wall with her boot, causing Papyrus to get shocked like a cartoon character. Frisk jumped back from the maze and Papyrus was done getting shocked. “SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?” Papyrus started hurling accusations.

“pretty sure the humans have to hold the orb.”

“OH, RIGHT.” Papyrus made his way to the humans, unaware that he was making a trail for the correct path. “HOLD THIS PLEASE.” Papyrus gave Frisk the orb, and then made his way back to Sans. Frisk followed the path Papyrus made, with Chara close behind her. The two exited the maze, and Papyrus was impressed. “INCREDIBLE, YOU SLIPPERY SNAILS! YOU SOLVED IT EASILY! TOO EASILY. NO MATTER, THE NEXT PUZZLE IS SURE TO DO THE TRICK. IT WAS MADE BY MY BROTHER, SANS. YOU MUST SURELY BE CONFOUNDED, I KNOW I AM!” Papyrus slid to the next area while nyeh-ing. Yes you read that correctly.

Frisk and Chara walked up to Sans. “thanks guys, he seems like he’s having fun!”

“Glad to be of help!” Frisk said happily.

“By the way Sans-”

“were you wondering about that outfit he’s wearing?”

“Actually I was-”

“we made it for a costume party. he’s been wearing it ever since. he calls it his ‘battle body’. well, at least he washes it, and by that, I mean he wears it in the shower." Sans chuckled. "man, isn’t my brother cool?”

“Well yes, he is. But I was actually wondering about-”

“whelp, see you guys at the next puzzle!” Sans walked away.

Chara looked dejected. Frisk noticed and tapped his shoulder. “Are you okay, Chara?”

“He’s avoiding my question…” Chara muttered.

“Well, what’s the question?”

“A few years before I died, he would always help out Gaster in the lab, and he would always talk about being a scientist like him. He has the smarts for it, I just… Never thought he’d be anything else…”

“Well… Maybe he has a good reason.”

“That’s what I’m trying to find out.” Chara dug his shoe into the snow.

Frisk didn’t know how to respond, so she just held Chara’s hand, and said nothing. Chara seemed to understand the gesture, given his expression.

“I wonder what Sans did for his puzzle…”

“Only one way to find out!” Frisk started to walk down the path, before stopping when she saw the image of a blue bunny next to a cart.

_“I just don’t understand why nobody is buying anything. It’s the perfect weather for a frozen treat.”_ The bunny muttered to themself.

“Frozen treat?” Frisk asked aloud. The bunny looked at the human, and beamed.

“Oh a customer! Would you like a Nice Cream? Only 15G!”

“Nice Cream?”

“It’s ice cream, but the sticks have a nice message on them!” The bunny explained. Chara appeared next to Frisk and looked at the cart with a glint in his eyes.

“That sounds good!” Chara said, fishing out 15G from his pocket. He turned to Frisk, and started to look confused. “Do you not have enough?”

“Oh, no I have enough! Just wondering if I have the room for it!”

“There’s always room for ice cream, Frisk.” Chara said with a smile.

“True.” Frisk fished for the coins in her pocket, and counted them out. The two gave the bunny the required amount of G, and he handed them both a Nice Cream. Frisk unwrapped hers and started to chew on the chocolate coating. Her eyes began to stare at the giant snowball. “What’s this for?”

“The snowball game! There’s a hole on the end of the path, and if you make in it, you get a prize! It’s pretty tough though. The ball melts fast.”

Frisk hummed. “Want to try a few attempts?”

“Gladly!” Chara held the Nice Cream in his mouth, and began to push the boulder like snowball down the path. Just as he said, it was decreasing in mass fast. Frisk watched as Chara just barely made it into the hole, with a cyan flag appearing from it. Chara picked up a piece of paper from the flag, and Frisk looked at the stick of her finished Nice Cream. 

_‘You look lovely today!’_ The stick reads. Frisk smiled and put the stick back in it’s wrapper, making a mental note to find a trashcan somewhere.

* * *

“You look lovely today!” A bright, colorfully dressed girl spoke to Frisk, who had flinched from the other girl's unexpected presence. She didn't know the girl's name, but she was friendly to everyone she came across, even if they were a bully. Frisk set aside her pencil and faced the girl.

“You say that to everyone.” Frisk said with an eye roll.

“But it’s especially true for you!” The girl poked Frisk in the nose, before wandering off.

“I look like a mess.” Frisk muttered.

“Can’t you learn to take a compliment?” Kris walked up to Frisk with a tray of food, and sat down. “Even _I_ know how to do that!”

“It’s hard to take a compliment from someone who compliments everyone, regardless of who they are.”

Kris was about to make a rebuttal, but he had pinched his chin, and then shrugged. “You got me there.”

Frisk chuckled at her victory, and went back to sketching something. Kris took a bite out of his sandwich, before looking around with an evil intensity. “What’s wrong?” Frisk asked, having noticed the look.

“You haven’t seen Mr. Jones have you?” Kris asked with a murderous tone.

“No, why?”

“Y’know how Tyler only uses sign language?”

“Yeah, he can’t speak. What does that have to do with-” The penny dropped in her head. “Oh.”

“Jesse said he saw Mr. Jones play a ‘game’ of quiet hands with Tyler.”

Frisk groaned. “Where does this school find the teachers.” She stole a chip from Kris’ lunch, but he didn’t seem to notice. “So… What do you plan to do if you see him?”

“I just want to talk!” Kris put on a smile to feign innocence.

“Kris no.”

“Kris yes. Someone has to teach him a lesson!” Kris defended his right to punch a teacher in the face.

“Just let Tyler’s parents handle it.”

“But what if that doesn’t fix it?!” 

“And what do you think your actions will do? The results could end up the same, except one ends in an already bad household becoming hell on earth.”

Kris let out a sigh. “Fine. I won’t do anything.”

"good." Frisk turned her attention back to her paper. She was mindlessly making lines, already preparing for their fate. She knows when Kris is lying. They had to rely on it a lot, so the two always knew when the other would lie, and she had always had to prepare herself mentally. One day, they’ll be caught lying. So Frisk began preparing for that day, but now she was planning for the backlash that will happen when their parents find out Kris assaulted a teacher. She thought back to the compliment the girl gave her, wondering if she made a bad impression. Not that it mattered. Frisk was a mess. There was nothing to change that fact.

* * *

The two caught up to the skeleton brothers at last, having spent a good half hour on the ball game. Papyrus looked at the two with a sense of satisfaction, which then turned into confusion as he looked at the empty space.

‘SANS WHERE’S THE PUZZLE?”

“right there on the ground. trust me, there’s no way they’ll get past this one!”

Frisk walked up to a lone piece of paper on the ground. It was a word search. She turned to Chara. _“You don’t happen to have a pen do you?”_ Chara shook his head, and Frisk set the paper down with a sigh. The two walked up to the brothers.

“SANS THAT DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!”

“huh. maybe i should've used today’s crossword instead…” Sans said thoughtfully.

Papyrus looked at Sans with befuddlement. “CROSSWORD?! I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT! IN MY OPINION, JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST.”

“that easy peasy word scramble? that’s for babybones.”

Papyrus was not amused. “UN. BELIEVABLE. HUMANS SOLVE THIS DISPUTE! JUNIOR JUMBLE OR CROSSWORD?!”

“I personally find them both to be pretty easy.” Frisk answered first, causing both skeletons to look at her confused.

“Now jigsaw puzzles,” Chara spoke up. “Can be the most challenging, depending on the complexity of the piece, and by the amount of pieces they have.”

“Have you ever had that moment where you couldn’t find the right piece?” Frisk asked Chara.

“Yes, and I hate it! Or when the pieces look like they fit together, but then they don’t.”

“Ugh, that’s the worst!”

“YOU GUYS ARE WEIRD!” Papyrus commented, before continuing down the path.

“i personally didn’t care what you guys would choose.” Sans shrugged and followed Papyrus.

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, shrugged, and followed the skeletons. They spotted a plate of Spaghetti sitting on a lone table. Frisk looked it over, and saw that the plate was frozen to the table. She gave it a few experimental tugs, but it didn’t budge. She looked at the nearby microwave, but there was no electrical outlets to plug it into, so it was useless.

“According to this note Papyrus left, we were supposed to be stuck here eating it.” Chara set the note down. “I feel kind of bad that his hard work went to waste due to the climate.”

“Maybe something will find a way to heat it up.” Frisk made a notion for the bright side of things.

“True.” Chara agreed. He turned to face the view of the forest, and pointed. “SAVE point.”

“Nice!”

The two walked up to the star and touched it.

**_Knowing that the spaghetti will someday be heated up and eaten fills you both with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_File saved_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *you feel as though someone really wants to try that spaghetti


	10. Chapter 2: SNOWDIN-3

Frisk and Chara walked away from the frozen spaghetti and into an open area that leads down. Chara looked around for anyone who tried to attack them, while Frisk went down and found the path blocked by spikes, and an odd amount of snow piled in a single location. She went to work on moving the snow away, sensing that it could give a hint on how to disable the spikes, while Chara threatened a type of snowman monster, with a head bigger than their body and some type of… Ice hat. They had a pretty good dynamic going. Frisk would act all cute and innocent, which would make the monsters feel bad if she got hit with one of their bullets, while Chara just acted threatening to the point that the monsters would be afraid to attack at all. It worked, but not all the time.

For example, the dog monster that initiated a fight wasn’t intimidated by Chara at all. In fact, Chara didn’t even try with this monster, he set the dagger away, and began to pet it. The dog got so excited, it’s neck started to elongate. It was weird, but dogs can be weird, even more so when they’re monsters. Frisk joined in on the petting train, and the dog was so happy, it could probably touch the ceiling of the underground. The fight ended as quickly as it began, and the dog went on it’s merry way. Frisk waved the dog goodbye and began to head into the larger space of the area.

“The snow was covering a map, and there was an ‘X’ dead center in this area.” Frisk went to the spot in general, ignoring the sentry station, since there was no occupant nearby, and flipped a switch. The sound of spikes retracting can be heard.

“Nice.” Chara began to walk down, but stopped when he noticed a sign. “Beware of dog marriage?”

“That’s not what it says.” Frisk rolled her eyes jokingly.

“That is very much what it says.” Chara retorted.

“Well, if that is what it says, then I hope those dogs are very happy with each other!” Frisk’s lighthearted tone didn’t last through the whole sentence. Chara seemed to notice, but he didn’t say anything. Frisk rubbed her eyes and put on a smile. “Anyway, let’s not keep those two waiting!”

“Yeah…”

They made their way down to a patch of snow that was disturbed, thanks to Frisk needing to move it around to find the switch location, when a blue bird monster quickly rushed past them. The monster looked back at them. "Sorry, but I can't be late on the first day of my new position!" The monster resumed it's trek as the humans gave each other a confused glance. The two passed by where the spikes would be, but stopped at the sound of two unfamiliar voices.

“What’s that smell?”

(Where’s that smell?)

Two cloak wearing dogs appeared from ahead, before stopping on next to the humans.

“If you’re a smell…”

(...Identify yoursmellf!)

The dogs began wandering around, sniffing the air. Frisk looked confused, while Chara was shifting around nervously. Eventually the dogs stopped, and once again stopped by the two humans.

“Hmm… Here’s that weird smell.” The dog to Chara’s left said. “It makes me want to eliminate.”

(...Eliminate you!)

The fight was initiated, and both dogs swung their axes at the two humans. Frisk ducked underneath the attack, while Chara rolled away from it. The dogs began to sniff the air, and seemed to be confused for a second.

“What! Smells like…”

(Are you actually a little puppy?)

Frisk gained an idea, and rolled around in the dirt too. The dogs sniffed the air again, and Frisk took the opportunity to pet one of the dogs.

“Wow!! Pet by another pup!!”

(Well. Don’t leave me out!)

Chara took the opportunity to pet the other dog. The dogs ended the fight, and rubbed the heads of both humans. 

“Dogs can pet other dogs?”

(A new world had been opened up for us!)

(“Thanks weird puppies!”)

“I have a feeling the other dog monsters are going to be just as shocked.” Chara playfully nudged Frisk’s arm.

“If anything we did them a favor!”

“True.” The two continued down the path, and saw a formation of snow, with a pressure plate next to it. Frisk walked up and looked behind the snow, seeing a giant, blue ‘X’ in the middle.

“Oh, I think I can already guess how to do this one.” Frisk reached over and put her hand on the ‘X’, causing it to turn into an orange ‘O”. “There’s probably another one on the other side.” Frisk pointed to the side next to her. Chara walked over, and placed a hand on the snow, and lifted it off. Frisk walked over to the pressure plate and pressed it, causing a line of spikes to retract. 

“NYEH?” Frisk looked over and saw the form of Papyrus staring at the two. “IMPOSSIBLE! HOW DID YOU TWO AVOID MY TRAP! AND, MOST IMPORTANTLY: IS THERE ANY LEFT FOR ME?”

Frisk rubbed her arm. “Well… we kinda… left it…”

“REALLY?!" Papyrus' eye sockets widened, before he made a slight squeal. "WOWIE… YOU RESISTED THE FLAVOR OF MY HOMECOOKED PASTA…”

“Well it’s because-”

“JUST SO YOU COULD SHARE IT WITH ME?!”

_What?_

“FRET NOT HUMANS! I, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE YOU ALL THE PASTA YOU COULD EVER WANT! NYEH HEH HEH!” Papyrus slid away.

_“Should we tell him it was because it was frozen?”_ Frisk asked.

_“Just let him have this one.”_ The duo followed Papyrus, who was waiting patiently for them.

“MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY.” Papyrus said unprompted when he saw the two.

_Well to each their own._ Frisk thought.

“HOW SADDENING… SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO, WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM???”

_“I wonder.”_ Chara whispered.

“ANYWAY… HOW DO I PUT THIS? YOU WERE TAKING AWHILE TO GET HERE SO I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE! BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND.”

_“What a shock.”_ Frisk whispered.

“SO NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT. WORRY NOT HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM!” Papyrus struck a pose. “THEN WE CAN ALL PROCEED. UNTIL THEN, FEEL FREE TO TRY THE PUZZLE OUT YOURSELF. I’LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!” Frisk went ahead and looked over the puzzle. She made a few test attempts, leaving Chara and Papyrus on the sidelines, neither of which knowing what to say to the other, and then nodded.

“You figure it out?” Chara asked.

“Yes I did?” 

“WAIT REALLY?!” Papyrus seemed shocked. Frisk went ahead and demonstrated to the two her solution to the puzzle. She came back and hit the pressure plate, which caused a nearby wall of spikes to retract. Frisk stood proud at her puzzle solving skills. “WOWIE!! YOU SOLVED IT! AND YOU DID IT WITHOUT MY HELP… INCREDIBLE! I’M IMPRESSED BY YOUR SKILLS HUMAN!” Frisk went starry eyed at the sound of that. “YOU MUST CARE ABOUT PUZZLES LIKE I DO! I’M SURE YOU’LL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN! IT MIGHT EVEN BE TOO EASY FOR YOU! NYEH! HEH HEH!! HEHEHEHEH!!!” Papyrus walked off ahead of the two.

Chara walked up to Frisk, who was wiping her eyes. “Are you okay?”

“I’ve never had someone be genuinely proud of me before…” Frisk muttered.

“Well then everyone else must’ve been blind. You’ve got a knack for problem solving!” Chara smiled.

“I had a lot of practice…” Frisk wiped her eyes one last time.

“And it’s paying off. Now let’s go, I want to see this next puzzle. It seems Papyrus has faith in you to solve it.” Chara tapped Frisk's shoulder with his fist lightly, as Frisk nodded, prompting the two continued down the path, only to see Sans standing nearby the retracted spikes.

“good job on solving it so quickly.” Sans gave a thumbs up. “you didn’t even need my help. which is great, because i love doing absolutely nothing.” Frisk saw Chara open his mouth to say something, but he quickly closed it and dug his shoe into the ground. Frisk nudged Chara along the path. They’ll need to find a way to get Sans to listen to Chara’s question without being interrupted somehow, because at this point it’s getting painful to see Chara getting ignored. They stopped near a bridge, where they saw a grey, tile pattern on the floor. On the other side of the pattern was Papyrus and… SANS?!?! Chara and Frisk looked back to where they came, and then back at Sans. How the fu-

“HEY! IT’S THE HUMANS! YOU’RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS!”

_“Alphys? Are they a new assistant?”_ Chara whispered.

“SEE THOSE TILES?! ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR! EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION!”

“This should be fun!” Frisk beamed.

“RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM! YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC! THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES! IF YOU STEP ON THEM, YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER! ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE-SCENTED. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. SWIM THROUGH IF YOU LIKE, BUT IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES, THE PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU! ALSO, IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A YELLOW TILE, THE WATER WILL ALSO ZAP YOU! PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY, YOU WILL SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE. HOWEVER THE SLIPPERY SOAP SMELLS LIKE LEMONS, WHICH PIRANHAS DO NOT LIKE! PURPLE AND BLUE ARE OK! FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING, SO FEEL FREE TO STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE! HOW WAS THAT, UNDERSTAND?”

Frisk only understood the pink, green, yellow and blue tiles. “Um… Can you repeat that please?”

“OF COURSE! RED TILES ARE IMPASSABLE. YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC AND DANGEROUS. BLUE TILES MAKE YOU FIGHT A MONSTER. GREEN TILES ARE WATER TILES. ORANGE TILES ARE ORANGE SCENTED. IF YOU STEP ON ORANGE, DON’T STEP ON GREEN. BROWN TILES ARE-”

“Waitwaitwait, stop! Stop! I have them memorized!” Chara interrupted. ”Besides, they aren’t any brown tiles and you mixed up green and blue!”

“I DID?!…" Papyrus bit his gloved hand and tapped his foot as he thought. "I GUESS I DID. MY BAD! WELL SINCE THE OTHER HUMAN HAS IT MEMORIZED, THEY CAN HELP YOU! NOW THERE’S ONE LAST THING… THIS PUZZLE IS COMPLETELY RANDOM! NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW THE SOLUTION!” Papyrus threw the switch to the puzzle, causing a flurry of colors to flash, each one having a different solution. The speed increased, and eventually stopped. The solution was to walk in a straight line, because, aside from the edges being red, the path was pink. Papyrus just stared in disbelief, before spinning out of the area.

“Ok then…” Frisk muttered.

“Can we talk about how some of those possible puzzles started with a red tile?” Chara asked.

Frisk shook her head. “Let’s not.”

Chara shrugged. “Ok.” The two decided to just walk through the area. Frisk yawned, making it clear that she was starting to feel tired from all the puzzles. They’re better than fighting, but the mental challenges were just as draining. They went into the next area which was full of… Long necked snow dogs?

“Oh hey! You two just missed it!” A monster nearby said. “This dog came in and started making these. He kept adding more snow the more he got excited, so the head would fall off, which would make him try again, and it went on for a while.”

“Well, hopefully he finds a way to make the perfect snow-dog!” Frisk commented.

“He’s had a lot of practice.” Chara pointed out. Frisk and Chara walked past the sight of several failed snow-dogs, and passed through another ‘X’ to ‘O’ puzzle that was only slightly more difficult thanks to the ice, but they got it done pretty fast. They made it across the bridge, and Frisk looked at a path that led down.

“Don’t bother with that path.” Chara said without even looking where Frisk was. “It just leads to a door that no ones been able to open. And Glydes a jerk so let’s just not.”

“Ok…?” Frisk was even more curious now, but she didn’t want to force Chara to go down there. It was clear that he was pretty damn tired too. She looked around the area, and approached one of the lumps of snow that littered the ground.

“Snow poff.” Chara mindlessly said.

“Snow poff?”

“It’s just what Asriel would always call them.”

“Really, even this one?” Frisk pointed to a snow poff.

“Snow poff.”

“This?” She pointed to another one.

Chara rubbed his head. “That however, is a snow poff.” Frisk just pointed to another one. “Surprisingly, it’s a snow poff.” Before Frisk could even point out the next one, Chara made a presenting gesture. “Behold, a snow poff!” Frisk pointed to the snow poff next to that one. “Snow poff….” Chara was getting pretty tired of this. “And before you ask this one is-” Chara touched the snow poff, and felt something different. He took his hand off, and saw-“EH? There’s 30G in this?!”

“What?!” Frisk leaned in and saw Chara pull out the coins.

“What is this?” Chara question.

Frisk gasped. “A snow poff bank!”

“Anyway, the town is just up ahead.” Chara had enough of snow poffs. “They have an inn, so we’ll be able to get some sleep.”

“Good.” Frisk got a head start, and stumbled upon a snow poff near the end of the path, which a tail popped out of. “What the…?” A head appeared shortly after. It looked like a small Pomeranian. “Aww! It’s a puppy!” The dog barked, and then a massive suit of armor appeared from the small snow poff. “Oh shit.” Frisk muttered. A fight initiated, and Frisk was still in shock of seeing something that massive hide in something as small as a snow poff. Chara begins waving his hands above his head.

“C’mere boy! C’mere!”

The dog started making it’s way to Chara, which broke Frisk out of her trance. She reached up to pet the dog, who laid down and fell asleep for a few seconds, before waking up and getting excited. Chara rolled up a snowball, and threw it for the dog to catch, only for it to bring way more snow than what was thrown. Frisk and Chara pet the dog, and their combined pets were able to calm it down enough to stop the fight, which was really more of a playtime. The dog jumped out of the armor, revealing itself to really be a small Pomeranian, which gave them both a playful lick. It jumped back into the armor head first, and walked away.

Frisk.exe. Has stopped working. Please reboot.

“Frisk, you good?” Chara asked. Frisk didn’t respond. “Frisk?” He waved his hand in front of her face. “Earth to Frisk!” He snapped his fingers. He sighed and rolled up a snowball. “You only have yourself to blame for this.” He walked a distance away, and chucked the snowball against the back of her head. She finally reacted.

“Hey, what was that for?!” She rubbed her head.

“How about you respond next time?”

“Sorry, that dog just… Confused me…”

“Clearly.”

They made their way to the town, walking across a bridge, which Chara looked at dubiously.

“Chara?”

“This is a rock formation.”

“What?”

“This is a rock formation. It’s been painted like a bridge.”

“CORRECT! I EVEN ADDED THE ROPE!” Papyrus called out from beyond the bridge. The two looked at the two skeletons. “HUMANS, THIS YOUR FINAL, AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!” At Papyrus’ words, a morning star, two spears, a flame thrower, a canon and a dog on a rope came into view. “WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!!! CANONS WILL FIRE, SPIKES WILL SWING, BLADES WILL SLICE, TOBY WILL EXIST! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!!” Papyrus pulled out a remote control. “ARE YOU READY?! BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!” Papyrus stood still.

“well? what’s the holdup?” Sans asked.

“HOLDUP? WHAT HOLDUP!? I’M… I’M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!” Papyrus still didn’t do anything.

“that, uh, doesn’t look very activated.” Sans pointed out.

“WELL!!! THIS CHALLENGE!!! IT SEEMS… MAYBE… TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH.” Papyrus rubbed his boney chin in thought. “YEAH, WE CAN’T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR, AND MY TRAPS ARE EXPERTLY COOKED! BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES!” At Papyrus’ words the gauntlet disappears. Papyrus let out a sigh of relief, before turning back to the humans. “WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT? THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS!! NYEH! HEH!... HEEEHHHH???” Papyrus walked away.

Frisk and Chara continued down the bridge and stopped to talk to Sans.

“i don’t know what my brother’s going to do now. if i were you Frisk, i’d make sure i understand blue attacks.”

“I gave her the rundown.” Chara replied.

“good. welcome to SNOWDIN TOWN, Frisk!” Sans gestured to the town. “enjoy your stay!”


	11. Chapter 2: SNOWDIN TOWN

Frisk and Chara walk out of a shop, holding the other glove, a bandana, and a couple of CinnaBuns. They only had enough for one, but since the two were so insistent about getting the bandana and glove for a friend of theirs, the shopkeeper gave them the two CinnaBuns on the house. Frisk looked around as Chara began setting things inside a nearby box. The town sign was a warming sight, with it’s adorned Christmas lights and friendly welcome, and the sights that she could make out were even more heart-warming. She could see the shape of a giant pine tree, which brought memories of Christmas days spent with friends, drinking hot chocolate and telling stories by a fire. She would always glance back to the inn next to the shop, desperate to get some sleep in, but her desire to see the town sights overwrites that.

“Okay, shall we begin the tour?” Chara was finally done messing with the box. Frisk began shaking her head in the affirmative with enthusiasm, and the two walked around the town. They passed by an Igloo, with a sign calling it an 'Undersnow Tunnel', made for the purpose of getting to the other side of town more efficiently. Frisk chuckled at the sound of that while Chara looked on with intrigue. They left the Igloo and made their way towards the giant pine tree in the middle of the town, passing by some monsters, one of which was expressing concerns over another, not even attempting to whisper it. The humans looked up at the tree, admiring the decorations. They heard someone clear their throat behind them, and turned to see a large, blue-ish grey bear wearing a maroon coat standing over them, holding a present.

"Oh, sorry, we're in your way!" Frisk quickly scampered out of the way, with Chara close behind.

"It's quite alright." The monster smiled. They knelt down and placed the present beneath the tree. "I know for newcomers, that this tree can be pretty impressive to look at, even when it's not Gyftmas." The monster chuckled. "I'm not like Barry, who won't even thank you if you help him with his word search." The bear scoffed.

Chara chuckled while Frisk raised a brow. "He can't be that bad."

"But he is." The bear replied. "When you get even PAPYRUS to admit that you're a bit of a jerk, then it's pretty much fact." The bear sighed. Chara and Frisk exchanged a glance, since it was hard to imagine Papyrus holding a grudge on someone. Well, okay, they could imagine it with Jerry, who they never want to see again. "And when he's not working on his word search, he goes on and on about politics." The bear scoffed and then pointed to a building in the distance. "so, now you know to avoid the bear in front of Grillby's holding the the paper, you're welcome." The bear started laughing to himself and waved the humans off. The two circled around the tree, only to get ambushed by an armless, golden yellow lizard monster.

The monster in question skidded on their feet, and tried to balance themselves out. "WOAH! Sorry about that, almost ran into you two!" The monster laughed it off and leaned their head back to scratch it with their tail. 

Frisk raised her hands in the air and shook her head. "It's fine, we weren't really paying attention either."

"So it was almost a mutual ambush." Chara added, slightly chuckling. The monster laughed, and then focused on the two intensely. The humans exchanged a glance. "Um...Are you-"

"I got it!" The monster proclaimed, followed by them pointing their tail at the humans. "you guys are kids, too!" The humans blinked while the monster stood proudly. "I could tell, because you guys are wearing striped shirts! Like me!" The humans looked at the monster kid more closely, and indeed, they were wearing a striped shirt that looked almost like an one of those old fashioned honey bottles.

_"Is that really so much of a big deal?"_ Frisk whispered to Chara.

"Oh, sorry, with some monsters it's hard to tell." Monster Kid replied, having heard Frisk. "So there was a unanimous rule that kids have some kind of stripes to show that they are, in fact, a kid." Monster Kid explained. "It doesn't really help all that much though." They said thoughtfully. "Since I still can't figure out if that tall skeleton is an adult or a kid..." The monster sat down and stewed in their thoughts as Frisk and Chara left them be. They approached a building labelled 'Grillby's', with a large, brown bear in an orange coat leaning against the window.

Chara walked up to the sign in front of the building. "'Welcome to Grillby's, Enjoy your stay!'" He noticed a slight shine to the sign and ran a hand on it, only to pull it back and shake his hand dry. "Greasy..."

"They sound busy in there." Frisk commented, noting the bustling noise from within.

"Lunch hour." The bear in front of the building said unprompted. "For the guard and the town."

"Umm...Thank you..." Frisk said with uncertainty, wondering if an unprompted response was worthy.

"Mhmm..." The bear replied. Frisk and Chara glared at the monster before moving away from the building and turning to their left. They saw a couple of small slime monsters, what looked to be a mouse monster in an oversized scarf, and some horned, smiling monster chatting amongst themselves about something called, 'Monsters and humans'. The two, literal humans decided to leave them be. They continued down the path and were met with a dead end, as the path was suddenly caught off by water. Frisk took a cautious step forward, when-

_Blip blip_

“Huh?” Chara pulled out the phone. “Hello?”

“Hello! Can I speak to G…” The voice stopped. “Wait a second… Is this the wrong number?”

“I’m afraid s-”

“Oh it’s the wrong number! The wrong number song! We’re very very sorry that we got it wrong! Oh it’s the wrong number! The wrong number song! We’re very very sorry that we got it wrong!” The voice hung up.

Chara and Frisk looked at the phone with confusion spreading across their face. “Well that happened.” Chara muttered.

“I wonder who they were trying to call.” Frisk yawned.

“There’s a few possibilities, but it’s none of our concern.” Chara pocketed the phone. “Let’s stop at the Library. I can write you a cheat sheet for monster writing.”

Frisk smiled. “Sounds good!” They left the dead end, and turned towards a giant wolf throwing giant cubes of ice down the river, and unto a small bridge which led their path down and next to the Library, which was hilariously misspelled for some reason. Chara doesn’t know why either. It was like that when he first fell, and they had put in a request to fix it, but it never happened apparently. Frisk sat down at one of the tables inside while Chara browsed through the collection of color coded books. A monster glanced at Frisk and chuckled. She looked around confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, you just have that look in your eyes.”

Frisk furrowed her eyebrows. “What look?”

“The look of someone who finds jigsaw puzzles to be the hardest!” The monster walked away.

_“Well, I’d be lying if I said they were wrong.”_ Frisk whispered.

* * *

Frisk tried and tried, but she just could not find the spot for the piece she held in her hands. Her friend had already done the edges, but everything after that was a challenge. She tried looking at the picture on the box, but nothing made sense. She dropped the piece on the table and sunk her head into her arms.

“This is impossible…” Frisk’s voice was muffled by her arms.

“I still don’t understand. How is it that you can solve word searches, crosswords, and scrambles, yet a jigsaw is your kryptonite.” A girl in a black turtle-neck with red stripes filled in three pieces as she spoke. “It’s the same principle.”

“I don’t know! Nothing makes sense with jigsaw’s for me!” Frisk remained in her position. “So much for being the resident artist in the family.”

“You don’t need to be an artist to solve a jigsaw Frisk.” 

“I guess…” Frisk sat up, only to slump in her chair again.

“Maybe we should take a break.” The girl suggested.

“Because I’m doing terribly?” Frisk said jokingly.

“Because you’re still shaken up about what happened yesterday…” The girl looked at Frisk, who turned her head to avoid her gaze. “You want to talk about it?”

“I knew it was going to happen…”

“You told him not to do it Frisk. I just don’t understand why you’re not mad about him doing it anyway.”

“I knew he was lying when he said he wouldn’t do it.” Frisk wiped her nose. “Mr. Jones had it coming anyway.”

“That doesn’t excuse what Kris did!”

“At least Dad found out first. Kris and I still have plenty of time before all hell breaks loose.”

“Frisk…”

“I’ll be fine Rose…”

“You might be able to trick your parents, but I know when you’re lying.” Rose folded her arms. “You can always report it. And me and Mom will be willing to let you and Kris stay here afterwards!”

“They’ll just find a way to throw off any investigators.”

“Stop being pessimistic!”

“Rose, how exactly did you think me and Kris learned to lie so well? They’re completely different people in public. That’s why no one else has been able to figure it out. We’re just jumpy kids in their eyes.”

“That’s exactly what should be tipping people off!”

“Just let me and Kris figure it out. Okay?”

“Frisk…”

_“Please…”_

Rose looked like she was about to explode, before exhaling and looking at the puzzle on the table. “Fine…”

* * *

Frisk looked at the cheat sheet Chara had filled out, and began to use it to read some of the books. There were a few things in particular that stood out. The first being a detailing of Monster funerals. According to the book, they’re considered ‘Cool as heck’. Monsters turn to dust when they die, and their dust is taken and spread out on their favorite possession, living on within that object. The second, being a detailing about how humans are missing out on expressing themselves through magic due to how they’re made, and how they’ll never get a bullet-pattern birthday card. Chara gave the book a glare. 

_“We can learn.”_ He whispered.

After reading the passage, Frisk got more curious about learning magic. Chara said the easiest one to learn was how to summon a magic weapon to fight with. Frisk wasn’t too keen on the idea at first, but now she wants to know more. She’ll have to ask Chara at some point when they reach a SAVE point in an isolated area. The third thing that interested her, was about how monsters are attuned to their SOUL. If they do not want to fight, their defense will weaken, and if a being with a powerful soul, _a human_ Frisk filled in the meaning, attacked a monster with the intention to kill, the attack does more damage. 

“That’s pretty scary.” Frisk muttered.

“Yeah…” Chara stared onto the table, grip tightening on the sides of his chair.

Frisk yawned. “Let’s head to the inn.”

“Yes. let’s.”

The two made their way back to the inn, cleverly named ‘Snowed Inn’, and rented a room. They got lucky, and a two bed bedroom became available. The two made their way into the room, and began to prepare for the night. Chara took off his jacket, and hung it on the headstand of his bed. Frisk took off her boots, and undid the ribbon in her hair before climbing into her bed. “Night Chara.”

Chara turned out the light. “Goodnight.”

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes, and stared out into an unfamiliar golden hallway. She could tell she was moving, but when she tried to stop, nothing happened. It felt as though something was forcing her to move. She looked down unto her hands, and found them covered in dust. She tried, and tried, but nothing worked. She kept walking down the corridor. It was when she stopped in her tracks that she began to notice. She was watching herself move, instead of moving. She could see everything. How her eyes were devoid of life, and how her clothes became discolored by all the dust clinging to it. Plastered on her face was an eerie smile, that seemed to reveal nothing but a red void within.

She looked around, wondering what was going on, when she saw Chara, standing just a few feet away.

“Greetings. You seem to have been doing some work.”

“Chara?! What’s happening?!”

Chara didn’t react to Frisk’s voice. He just shifted his foot against the floor, and drew out his dagger. Frisk made her way closer to Chara, who was wearing an outfit akin to a squire's armor, a red scarf flowing freely from around his neck. “Chara! Please, tell me what’s happening!” Chara still didn’t react to the call, and had only lunged forward to the dust covered Frisk with great speed. Suddenly, the scenery shifted. Frisk recognized it immediately. Her old home. Her prison...

“No! Why am I back here?!”

“Now that’s a silly question, don’t you think?” A shrill, menacing voice answered. “Why wouldn’t you be here? After all, this is your home. You have nowhere else to go!”

“No! No! This place is not a home! It’s a hellhole!” Frisk collapsed to her knees and covered her ears.

“Well that’s awfully rude! What would your dear brother say about that?”

“He’d agree!”

“Exactly, and look where that got him!”

Frisk risked a glance, and saw a horrific sight. All around, there was a dead Kris. Each one having a different stab wound, or multiple. Frisk jumped up and ran as fast as she could in a straight line. She focused on running, she didn’t even notice the change in scenery until it was too late. She stepped on something, and heard a bone chilling crunch, and she fell down. Into a deep, dark hole. She opened her eyes, and found herself back at the very far entrance to the underground. There were no flowers to break her fall this time. A stream of blood ran down her left eye, blocking any vision from it. She tried to get up, but couldn’t. A sharp pain ran through her entire body. She propped herself up on her arms, and called out.

“C-Chara! Toriel! Anyone… Help…”

…

**_*But nobody came._ **

She recognized that voice. She looked around with her right eye, but saw nothing.

**_*That’s too bad!_ **

**_*No one else…_ **

**_*IS GONNA GET TO SEE YOU DIE!!_ **

A deep, echoey laugh filled the area, as a hail of bullets, Flowey’s bullets, made their way to her.

_“-sk!”_

She buried her face into her arms, and braced for impact.

_“-isk!!”_

_“FRISK!!”_

* * *

She jolted awake, and met Chara’s gaze. His face was frozen in worry, high-lighted by a deep red glow. She looked at her surroundings, and saw the blood red daggers floating all around her. She took a ragged breath, and the weapons disappeared, along with the eerie glow. She looked back at Chara, who’s eyes gained a deeper red hue in the dark room. She opened her mouth to apologize, but all that came out were tears. She felt the bed shift as Chara sat next to her, pulling her into an embrace, like a mother would for her crying child.

“It’s okay. It was just a nightmare.” Chara said gently. “Everything is perfectly fine.”

Frisk let out a choked breath, before burying herself into Chara’s embrace. “I-it felt so real…”

“Nightmares do that. It’s to make you feel trapped… You shouldn’t let them win.”

Frisk choked back a few tears. “I was in this… Golden corridor… I was covered in dust and…”

“Don’t… It’ll just bring it back.” Chara’s voice was almost inaudible due to Frisk’s sobs.

Frisk didn’t try to speak. She just remained still, and let out the tears. She felt Chara rest his head on hers, and eventually, the tears stopped, but she didn’t want to move.

“I think I know something that might help…”

“W-what?”

“Whenever Mom found me awake after a nightmare, she’d sing a lullaby to help me sleep again. I remember that it always made me feel better, so…”

Frisk remained silent for a few seconds. “How does it go?”

“I don’t remember the whole song. I always fell asleep after the beginning. It started off like…” Chara took a minute to recall, but soon, he hummed a melody.

_~When the light is running low_

_And the shadows start to grow_

_And the places that you know_

_Seem like fantasy_

Frisk started to feel lighter. She let out a smile, but kept quiet.

_There’s a light inside your soul_

_That’s still shining in the cold_

_With the truth_

_The promise in out hearts_

_Don’t forget…_

_I’m with you in the dark~_

* * *

Frisk looked out onto the golden field ahead. The sun felt nice and warm against the back of her neck, and the air was nice and cool. She sunk further onto the bench she sat on, staring ahead at the golden sea that flowed with the wind. She felt a presence on her hand, and when she looked, Chara was right there with her, staring out into the same field. She smiled, and turned back to the golden flowers that laid just a few feet away from the two. She turned her hand around, and locked her fingers between his. She tightened her grip, and he did the same. The two leaned in to each other, letting nothing ruin this moment for them. This was a nice feeling. A nice dream. She could feel his arm press into hers, and she could smell the scent the flowers gave off from the wind. Everything felt so real, and deep down…

She wished it was...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *goes from lighthearted, to slightly depressing, to lighthearted again* PARKOUR!!


	12. Bonetrousle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Speaking of checking every couple of hours, Jaycloud9!

Frisk put on her boots and managed to tie her hair back into a ponytail with the ribbon, going outside to meet Chara who had wrapped the ‘Mandana’ as he called it on his arm. He looked at Frisk and gave a small, concerned smile. “Are you good to go? We can stay a few more days.”

“I’m fine, that lullaby helped a bunch.” Frisk smiled back at Chara.

Chara’s face gained more red. “Ah, well, it sounds better when Mom sings it…”

Frisk patted Chara on the shoulder. “Don’t say that. You have a good singing voice!”

“Okay, now you’re just embarrassing me!” He covered his face with his hands.

Frisk gave a chuckle and playfully tapped Chara on the shoulder. “Besides, I’m starting to get a little tired of the cold.”

“Ok, yeah that makes sense.” Chara gestured down the path through town. “Shall we head off?”

“Of course!” Frisk and Chara walked through town, passing by the giant tree, Grillby’s, the Library, and a house they didn’t look at the previous day. It seemed to be two stories tall, and was quite larger than any of the other houses. There was a shed nearby and two mailboxes nearby the door. One was absolutely overflowing with mail, while the other was much more well kept. Frisk looked at both mailboxes for a name. The more neat one was Papyrus’, while Sans hadn’t even touched his mail. “He better hope those aren’t bills.” Frisk pointed at all the letters in Sans’ mailbox. “That seems like a bit too much to catch up on.”

“Not our concern. Sans works in mysterious ways. He was always like that.” Chara shrugged.

Frisk glared at Chara, and then shrugged. “Well you have known him longer.” They continued down the road, getting enveloped in fog in the process. Thankfully, the path stayed a straight line, so they didn’t need to worry about hitting any forks in the road. What they didn’t prepare for, was the skeleton in the road.

“HUMANS, ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS.”

“Complex feelings?” Chara echoed.

Frisk raised a brow. “Like what?”

“FEELINGS LIKE…" Papyrus thought for a second. "THE JOY OF FINDING OTHER PASTA LOVERS. THE ADMIRATION FOR ANOTHER’S PUZZLE SOLVING SKILLS. THE DESIRE TO HAVE A COOL, SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL. THESE FEELINGS… " Papyrus paused, and then dramatically pointed at the duo. "THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU ARE ALL FEELING RIGHT NOW!!!” Frisk rubbed her arm, while Chara remained silent. Both stared at the skeleton with a mix of confusion and “I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST BE LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY.”

_Something feels off about his tone of voice…_ Frisk thought.

“AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT. I DON’T EVER WONDER WHAT HAVING LOTS OF FRIENDS IS LIKE.” Papyrus’ voice shook a bit.

_Is he…?_ Frisk tapped her chin. _It feels like he's projecting..._

“I PITY YOU, LONELY HUMANS. BUT WORRY NOT!!! YOU SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL BE YOUR…” Papyrus stopped. “NO…”

“No?” The humans asked in sync.

“NO, THIS IS ALL WRONG. I CAN’T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE HUMANS!” If felt as though Papyrus was reminding himself, rather than the two humans. “I MUST CAPTURE YOU TWO! THEN I CAN FULFILL MY LIFELONG DREAM! POWERFUL! POPULAR! PRESTIGIOUS! THAT’S PAPYRUS!" He posed dramatically. "THE NEWEST MEMBER” A fight was initiated. “OF THE ROYAL GUARD!” Papyrus summoned a long bone and twirled it around like a spear. He pointed it towards the humans, causing a couple of bones to fly towards them. They dodged the attack with ease.

“We don’t have to fight!” Frisk spoke out.

“SO YOU WON’T FIGHT… THEN LET’S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED ‘BLUE’ ATTACK!!” At Papyrus’ words, cyan bones flew towards the two, who remained perfectly still throughout the attack.

“Child’s pl-” Frisk’s SOUL suddenly turned from crimson red, to a deep blue, and fell to the ground with a forceful weight. A bone was flying towards her, but Chara had grabbed her by the waist and jumped. The two were suspended in the air for a good few seconds, before landing back down.

“YOU’RE BLUE NOW! THAT’S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!” Papyrus twirled his bone weapon in triumph.

“What the…?” Frisk was lost.

“We’ll get pulled down thanks to powerful gravity, but we can jump as high as we can to counter it.” Chara explained.

“CORRECT!” Papyrus said, dabbing some kind of powder behind his… Well he doesn’t have ears, so he’s just dabbing some powder on his skull. “FOR EXAMPLE!” Papyrus summoned more bones, and the two jumped to avoid them. As long as they jump with force, or swing their legs a little, they can avoid the attacks. Papyrus cackled as he dabbed marinara sauce on his skull for some reason, and hurled more bones at the two, increasing the size of each one so that they’ll have to time their jumps more accurately. “NYEH, DON'T MAKE ME USE MY 'SPECIAL ATTACK’!” Papyrus changed the direction the bones appeared from, and also had a couple of bones appear from above, which Frisk didn’t see, causing her to hit her head. 

“Ow!” Frisk tapped where the bump would be.

“Keeps your focus on the attacks. Any distractions will get you hit!” Chara reminded.

“Yeah, found that out...” Frisk snarked.

“I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY! PAPYRUS, HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD!” The two humans leapt over the attacks, but were almost thrown off by the appearance of some cyan bones. “PAPYRUS! UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE!” The attacks began getting more complicated as the two needed to jump through a section in between two bones or jump over a cluster altogether. “UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF ME!” The cluster of bones were more spaced out, causing Chara to jump to early and fall onto one of the bones. If that wasn’t enough, the attacks increased in speed.

“I’m not gonna lie, I underestimated him.” Chara commented as he jumped over the second wave of bones.

“THE KING WILL TRIM A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE!”

“Ok, I actually want to see that!” Chara pointed out as the bones slowly closed in. Thankfully, there was enough time to plan out each jump.

“MY BROTHER WILL… ACTUALLY HE WON’T CHANGE VERY MUCH.” Papyrus almost forgot to launch his attack. It was similar to the last one, but the bones were smaller, and increased in speed. Frisk and Chara had just barely got through without a scratch. “I’LL HAVE LOTS OF ADMIRERS, BUT…” Papyrus was starting to second guess himself. “HOW WILL I KNOW IF PEOPLE SINCERELY LIKE ME?”

“Papyrus…” Frisk muttered out.

“PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE REALLY RARE.” Papyrus had begun shifting the movements of the bones, making it harder to judge when to jump. “AND I DON'T THINK THEY'LL LET YOU GO…AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY...” Papyrus began shaking his head. “NYE-UGH! WHO CARES!? GIVE UP!!” Papyrus began making each attack a guessing game, as the two needed to jump through gaps at the right time, or perfectly slide through a descending row of bones. “GIVE UP OR… FACE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” Papyrus twirls the bone in his hand. 

“What do you mean ‘Special Attack’?” Frisk asked in between jumps. _And why does he sound worried about it?_

“LAST CHANCE! GIVE UP OR FACE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” Frisk had got distracted by the amount of times Papyrus had threatened to use his ‘Special Attack’, that she had stumbled on her jumps, and got hit by a few bones. She took out the bar of chocolate she kept from the ruins and ate it, healing any injuries. “BEHOLD!” Papyrus raised the bone in his hand into the air, and a couple of skeletal, dragon like heads appeared behind him, with a constant, mechanical sound. Frisk and Chara stared up at the snow white skulls, an orange, robotic glow emanating from the eye sockets, as the skulls themselves stared the two humans down. Frisk was frightened by the razor sharp fangs the skulls had, while the horns seemed to curl and point to the humans, while Chara looked on, mystified at the sight. 

“Blasters…” Chara muttered.

“MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” Papyrus pointed the bone towards the humans, and the blasters charged up, only to disappear due to a dog suddenly jumping up and taking the bone away from Papyrus. It took him a few seconds to register what had just happened. “WHAT THE HECK! HEY! TOBY!” The dog turned to look at Papyrus. “THAT’S MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” Toby walked away. “HEY! TOBY! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” The dog disappeared. Chara and Frisk looked at each other while Papyrus introduced his palm to his face. _“I SWEAR, SANS AND THAT DOG HAVE A COMPETITION ON WHO’S GOING TO BE THE DEATH OF ME FIRST…”_ Papyrus removed his hand from his face and sighed. “OH WELL. I GUESS I’LL JUST HAVE TO USE A REGULAR ATTACK” Frisk and Chara made a stance to show that they were ready, though both took notice of how relieved Papyrus sounded when the attack was interrupted. Papyrus sighed. “HERE’S AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK.”

It started off that way, but eventually the bones began moving up and down, causing the humans to be extra careful. Toby came back with the special attack, but they were treated as an attack, so the two jumped over the small dog. A cluster of bones spelling out the words ‘Cool Dude’ appeared shortly after, along with a bone on a skateboard. When they jumped over that one, the satisfaction they had turned to fear, as they say a giant wave of bones coming towards them. They took a few steps back, and jumped with all their might, swinging their legs to catch more air, as at the end of the wave was a gigantic bone that blocked out any view that could be had. They had made it over the bones, and landed back onto the ground, where a tired Papyrus sent one last, lone bone towards the two. It was pretty slow, so they just made a small leap over it.

Papyrus was out of breath. “WELL… IT’S CLEAR… YOU CAN’T… DEFEAT ME! YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS… THEREFORE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY. I WILL **SPARE** YOU!”

Frisk gave a thumbs up, trying to catch her breath. “We accept.”

“Yeah, we can’t keep going like this.”

The fight ended, and the fog cleared. Papyrus sat at the edge of the path, staring into the water. “NYOO HOO HOO… I CAN’T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU! UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I’LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD AND… MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!!!” Papyrus looked into his reflection in the water. Frisk shot Chara a look, and he nodded. The two went and joined Papyrus by the edge.

“We can be your friends!” Frisk suggested.

“Yeah, you’re a lot of fun to be around!” Chara gave a sincere smile.

Papyrus looked up from the water and turned quickly to look at the two humans. “REALLY?! YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME?!”

The two nodded.

“WELL THEN… I GUESS… I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU GUYS!!" Papyrus finally proclaimed. "WOWIE! WHO KNEW ALL I NEEDED TO MAKE FRIENDS, WAS TO GIVE PEOPLE AWFUL PUZZLES AND THEN FIGHT THEM???”

“Anime style!” Frisk shot a fist into the air.

“YOU TAUGHT ME A LOT… UH… I NEVER DID GET YOUR GUYS’ NAMES.”

“I’m Frisk!”

“Chara!”

“WELL THEN, FRISK, CHARA, I HEREBY GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO PASS THROUGH! KEEP WALKING UNTIL YOU REACH THE END OF THE CAVERN, THEN, WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, CROSS THE BARRIER. BUT BEFORE YOU GO, FEEL FREE TO STOP BY AND HANG OUT!”

“Of course!” Frisk beamed.

“WOWIE… I STILL FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE I MADE EIGHT FRIENDS FOR THE PRICE OF TWO!” Papyrus shot up from his spot, and leapt over Chara’s head, cackling all the while.

“Eight, for the price of two…?” Chara was confused.

“Maybe we should ask him what he meant.”

“Well, we’re in no rush…” Chara tapped his chin. “Want to hang out with him now?”

“Gladly!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the shortest chapter so far, both because I was running out of ways to describe the attacks, and because this doubled as a practice for me to describe the fights. Since getting to Snowdin required you to go through puzzles, I wanted those to be the main focus of the chapters, but since Waterfall is up next, and there's hardly any puzzles, fights will have to be the primary focus, especially with the Undyne parts. I'm glad we're getting to Waterfall soon, because that was one of the most aesthetically pleasing area's in my eyes, and because things are going to get a bit more complicated...


	13. Hang outs and Luncheons.

“SO, YOU’VE COME BACK TO HANG OUT WITH ME!? YOU GUYS MUST BE SERIOUS ABOUT THIS… IF THAT’S THE CASE, I MUST TAKE YOU SOMEPLACE SPECIAL FOR OUR FIRST HANG OUT! FOLLOW ME!”

Papyrus made his way back into the town, with Frisk and Chara close behind him. When he passed the door to Grillby’s, he turned around, and walked back to his house. The humans were confused, but kept following him anyway. He stopped in front of the entrance to his house, and gestured to the building. “MY HOUSE!”

The trio walked in the house, and the humans were surprised by how homely it felt, although the rock on the table covered in sprinkles and the sock on the floor were kinda strange to see.

“WELCOME TO SCENIC MY HOUSE! ENJOY AND TAKE YOUR TIME!” Papyrus patiently waited by the stairs as the two began to look around. Frisk turned on the TV. “OOH, IT’S MY FAVORITE GAME SHOW!”

(Stay tuned for a new program!-MTT.)

“WHAT!!! IT’S USUALLY BETTER THAN THIS!” Papyrus noticed the look Frisk was giving him. “THIS IS JUST A BAD EPISODE! DON’T JUDGE ME!”

Frisk decided to leave well enough alone, and turned off the TV. She glanced at the sock on the floor and noticed the series of notes left by it. She pulled out her cheat sheet and began looking at the notes.

“What’s with…?” Chara pointed to the rock.

“THAT’S MY BROTHER’S PET ROCK! HE ALWAYS FORGETS TO FEED IT, SO I HAVE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY, AS USUAL!” Papyrus rolled his eye sockets.

Frisk didn’t pay the conversation any mind, and kept looking at the notes. After a few glances at her cheat sheet, she began to understand what was happening.

_SANS! PLEASE PICK UP YOUR SOCK!_

_Ok._

_DON’T PUT IT BACK DOWN! MOVE IT!_

_Ok._

_YOU MOVED IT TWO INCHES! MOVE IT TO YOUR ROOM!_

_Ok._

_AND DON’T BRING IT BACK!_

_Ok._

_IT’S STILL HERE!_

_Didn’t you just say not to bring it back to my room?_

_FORGET IT!_

_Ok then…_ Frisk put her cheat sheet away, and walked into the kitchen. Papyrus followed but stood at the entrance. Frisk looked at the stove, which seemed to be a standard gas oven. 

“MY BROTHER ALWAYS GOES OUT TO EAT BUT… RECENTLY, HE TRIED ‘BAKING’ SOMETHING." Papyrus scratched the side of his skull. "IT WAS LIKE… A QUICHE, BUT FILLED WITH A SUGARY, NON-EGG SUBSTANCE.”

“Oh, that sounds like a pie!" Frisk exclaimed. "What kind did he try to make?”

Papyrus shrugged. “I’M NO SURE EXACTLY… IT DIDN’T TURN OUT THAT WELL.”

“Oh…” Frisk deadpanned.

Papyrus winced. “YES, MY BROTHER IS MANY THINGS, BUT A BAKER IS NOT ONE OF THEM.” Frisk nodded, and went to the fridge. Papyrus seemed ecstatic by her choice of doing so. “AH-HA! INTERESTED IN MY FOOD MUSEUM? PLEASE, PERUSE MY CULINARY ART SHOW.” Papyrus struck a pose. Frisk opened the fridge, which was half full of Tupperware containers of spaghetti, and the other half containing an empty bag of chips. Frisk took the bag and threw it in the trash. “AH, THANKS FOR THAT! NOT SURE WHY SANS LEAVES HIS CHIP BAGS IN THERE.” Frisk shrugged, and looked to see if she missed anything. She stepped toward what looked like a cabinet. “IMPRESSED? I INCREASED THE HEIGHT OF MY SINK! NOW I CAN FIT **_MORE_ **BONES UNDER IT. TAKE A LOOKSY!” Frisk opened up the cabinet door, to reveal Toby still chewing on the special attack.

“TOBY, GET OUT FROM THE SINK! AND GIVE ME BACK MY SPECIAL ATTACK!” Toby launched from the inside, still clinging on to the attack. “CATCH THAT CANINE!” Frisk ran out of the kitchen, only to see Chara try and fail to catch the dog via leaping at it. Toby left the house and Papyrus gave a sigh. A door upstairs opened up, and the sound of a trombone could be heard, before the door shut again. “SANS! STOP PLAGUING MY LIFE WITH INCIDENTAL MUSIC!” Frisk and Chara gave a chuckle at the skeletons' antics. They walked upstairs, and stood in front of a portrait of a bone. “A CLASSIC IMAGE. IT ALWAYS REMINDS ME OF WHAT'S IMPORTANT IN LIFE!”

Frisk nodded and the two humans walked up to the door that had a lot of police tape and stop signs. “THAT’S MY ROOM! IF YOU GUYS ARE DONE LOOKING AROUND, WE COULD GO IN AND ‘HANG OUT’ LIKE A GROUP OF VERY COOL FRIENDS!”

“Sounds good to me!” Frisk replied.

“Let’s do it!” Chara nodded. Everyone entered the room, which was fairly standard. Bookshelf, computer, racecar bed. Papyrus had a good set up going. Chara stopped by the door, when he noticed a box of bones.

“HEY, THOSE ARE ALL THE ATTACKS I USED ON YOU!" Papyrus beamed. "GREAT MEMORIES HUH? SEEMS LIKE IT WAS ONLY YESTERDAY…" He placed his hands on his hip bones and sighed. "EVEN THOUGH IT BASICALLY JUST HAPPENED.” 

“You were pretty tough. If we hadn’t spent the night at the inn we would’ve been boned.” Chara paused, realized what he’d done, and tried (and failed) to keep a straight face. “Oh god did I just…?”

Frisk started to giggle while Papyrus let out a huge sigh. “I WAS TOO LATE. SANS HAD ALREADY GOTTEN TO YOU…" Frisk and Chara began laughing at the slip up, while Papyrus looked around, unsure of what to do. “UH…” Papyrus looked to the computer. “AH, THE INTERNET! I’M QUITE POPULAR THERE!”

“You are…?” Frisk wiped a tear from her eye and calmed down from her laughing fit.

Papyrus posed. “I AM INDEED! I’M JUST A DOZEN AWAY… FROM A DOUBLE DIGIT FOLLOWER COUNT!” Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance. “OF COURSE, FAME HAS A STEEP PRICE. A JEALOUS TROLL HAD BESIEGED MY ONLINE PERSONA. ALWAYS SENDING ME BAD PUNS IN A GOOFY FONT…”

“Sans…” The humans said in sync. Frisk walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. Papyrus looked happy with what she had chosen. 

“THAT BOOK’S ONE OF MY FAVORITES!”

“‘Advanced Puzzle Construction For Critical Minds.’” Frisk opened the book and glanced at the first page. It seems the book was already translated, but the author name had been smudged beyond recognition.

“THE NEXT BOOK IS ANOTHER ONE OF MY FAVORITES!” Papyrus pointed to the book that was next in line. Frisk took a glance at the side of it.

“‘Peek-A-Boo With Fluffy Bunny.’”

“THE ENDING ALWAYS GETS ME…”

Chara walked up to the pirate flag hanging on the wall. Papyrus joined him shortly after. “ISN’T THIS FLAG NEATO?”

Chara ran a hand on the flag. “Where’d you get this?”

“UNDYNE FOUND IT AT THE BAY!" He tapped his chin. "I BELIEVE IT’S FROM THE HUMAN WORLD.”

“You’d be correct.” Chara kept his gaze fixated on the flag.

“NOW, WHY WOULD A HUMAN FLAG, HAVE A COOL SKELETON ON IT?” Papyrus said quizzally. Chara looked at Papyrus ready to answer, but Papyrus held a finger up. “BEFORE YOU SHARE YOUR THEORY, ALLOW ME TO SHARE MINE! I THINK HUMANS… MUST HAVE DESCENDED FROM SKELETONS!!!” Papyrus finished his theory with his trademark laugh.

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong, but that's actually a pirate flag.” Frisk pointed out from the bookshelf.

“PIRATE?” Papyrus muttered. "WHAT'S A PIRATE?"

“They’re like thieves, but they mainly operate on the water.” Frisk closed the puzzle book and set it back into it’s spot. “That flag was used to signify that the pirates were going to attack and steal your treasure.”

“They’re also pretty freaking cool. Pirates are a common costume to see in certain events that require one.”

“INTRIGUING…” Papyrus tapped a finger on his chin in thought, before clearing his throat. “SO… IF YOU’VE SEEN EVERYTHING, DO YOU WANT TO START HANGING OUT?” Frisk and Chara exchanged another glance, and then nodded. “OKAY, HANG OUT… START!” Papyrus struck an action pose, but nothing really happened. Frisk and Chara went along with it and struck their own poses. “WELL, HERE WE ARE. HANGING OUT…” Papyrus seemed unsure of what to do next.

“Have you ever hung out with someone before?” Frisk asked.

“WELL… NO. BUT WORRY NOT! YOU CANNOT SPELL PREPARED WITHOUT SEVERAL LETTERS FROM MY NAME!” Papyrus walked to the bookshelf and pulled out a book. “I SNAGGED THIS OFFICIAL HANGOUT GUIDEBOOK FROM THE LIBRARY!”

“They make guidebooks for hanging out?” Frisk muttered.

“Well there are guidebooks on how to date, so I guess a guidebook for hanging out wouldn’t be too weird.” Chara pointed out.

“LET’S SEE HERE…” Papyrus flipped through the pages. “STEP ONE: ASK SOMEONE TO HANG OUT.” Papyrus lowered the book, and cleared his skeletal throat. “HUMANS, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL HANG OUT WITH YOU!”

“Sure!” Frisk said gleefully and Chara gave a thumbs up.

“R-REALLY!? WOWIE!!! GUESS IT’S TIME FOR STEP TWO!” Papyrus turned the page of the book. “STEP TWO: PUT ON NICE CLOTHES TO SHOW YOU… WAIT A MINUTE…. WEAR CLOTHING…” Papyrus studied the two humans, and the room, oddly enough. “THE RIBBONS, THE BANDANA’S, THE GLASSES, THE HAT, THE APRON, THAT TUTU AND THAT LOCKET… YOU… YOU’RE ALL WEARING CLOTHING RIGHT NOW!” Frisk and Chara looked around the room. There were only three people in there, and neither of the two had any of the articles of clothing mentioned. Unless… “NOT ONLY THAT… EARLIER, YOU WERE WEARING CLOTHING TOO! NO… COULD IT BE…? YOU ALL WANTED TO HANG WITH ME FROM THE VERY START!!!” Papyrus gestured to the whole room. Frisk kept looking around, but Chara had a smile.

“What about you?” Chara pointed to Papyrus.

“ME?” Papyrus pointed to himself.

“You see… YOU WERE ALSO WEARING CLOTHING!!” Chara suddenly cried out with an accusatory tone, causing Papyrus to gasp.

“Not only that…” Frisk muttered. “YOU’RE WEARING CLOTHES RIGHT NOW!!” Papyrus flinched back and gasped louder. They were right! Had this hangout, been predestined? Suddenly, Papyrus chuckled.

“NYEH, BUT YOU SEE, THIS IS MY BATTLE BODY, ALWAYS WORN FOR THE OCCASION OF CAPTURING A HUMAN! MY SPECIAL CLOTHES HOWEVER, WERE MADE SPECIFICALLY IN CASE SOMEONE HAPPENS TO ASK TO HANG OUT!” Papyrus pointed fingers around the room, before he threw off his scarf in a swift, blink and you miss it, motion. The scarf hit the ground, and Papyrus’ wardrobe had changed. “BEHOLD! MY SECRET STYLE!” He had kept his gloves, but he was now sporting a baseball cap, a shirt that read ‘Cool Dude’ in the middle of it, with two basketballs for shoulder pads, blue shorts, and red sneakers, with plain white socks with a red and blue stripe near the top.

“It’s very unique…” Chara said thoughtfully.

“I say it fits your personality!” Frisk added.

Papyrus became shocked, and looked around the whole room, only to end up looking more and more taken aback. “NO!!! SUCH COMPLIMENTS!! SUCH HONESTY!!! THEY ALL SHOW HOW MUCH YOU REALLY CARE!!” Papyrus flinched back, before his confidence returned. “HOWEVER, NONE OF YOU KNOW THE HIDDEN POWER OF THIS ATTIRE, THEREFORE, THE WORDS SPOKEN BEFORE ME WERE INVALID!!” Frisk and Chara gasped. “THIS HANG OUT WILL ESCALATE NO FURTHER! NOT UNLESS ONE OF YOUR DISCOVERS THE SECRET OF THIS OUTFIT!” Frisk and Chara were at loss. Sure, the outfit wasn’t standard. If anything, it was made to stand out. They were about to throw in the towel, when Papyrus looked down as if someone had gotten his attention. “YES LITTLE ORANGE HUMAN!?”

_“Orange human?”_ Chara whispered.

“MY HAT? MY HAT…” Papyrus made shifty eyes around the room. “MY HAT!!” With a ‘Nyeh heh heh’ Papyrus lifted up his hat, revealing a present. “YOU HAVE FOUND MY SECRET! IT’S A PRESENT! FROM ME TO YOU!” Papyrus presented the wrapped gift to the humans. Chara immediately unwrapped it, revealing a plate of pasta.

“Spaghetti?” Frisk asked.

“CORRECT, BUT OH SO WRONG! YOU SEE, THAT ISN’T ANY PLAIN OL’ PASTA!! THAT THERE IS AN ARTISAN’S WORK!!” Chara looked at the plate with skepticism. “SILKEN SPAGHETTI, FINELY AGED IN AN OAKEN CASK, AND COOKED BY ME, MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS!!” Papyrus put a hand over his chest with passion. “HUMANS, IT’S TIME TO END THIS!!! THERE’S NO WAY THIS CAN GO ANY FURTHER!” Chara looked at the forks sticking out of the pasta, he gave one to Frisk, and the two each took their own bites of the meal. The taste was indescribable.

“The noodles aren’t fully cooked, and the sauce is a bit grainy-” Frisk started.

“However, the way it was arranged was fantastic-” Chara added.

“The meatballs were perfect as well.” Frisk finished.

“N-NO!! GENUINE CRITICISM!!! YOU MUST REALLY CARE ABOUT COOKING, EVEN MORE THAN I DO!!!” Papyrus collapsed to the floor in defeat. “HUMANS…. IT’S CLEAR NOW…. EVERYTHING YOU DO…. EVERYTHING YOU SAY…. IT’S OBVIOUS…. ALL OF THIS WAS FOR MY SAKE…. I’M FLATTERED BUT….” Papyrus rose from the floor, and looked at the two grimly. “BUT MAYBE DIAL IT BACK A BIT?” Say what now?

“What do you mean?” Frisk asked.

“YOU’RE VERY NICE PEOPLE, AND I’M GLAD WE’RE ALL FRIENDS, BUT I THINK YOU CAN REACH YOUR MAX POTENTIAL, IF YOU LIVE MORE FOR YOUR OWN SAKES, RATHER THAN MINE…”

“Wise words.” Chara nodded.

“HMM…” Papyrus rubbed his chin. “I KNOW THE SOLUTION!”

“And that is?” Frisk tilted her head.

“YOU SHOULD HANG OUT WITH MY BOSS UNDYNE!”

“Your boss?”

“YES! YOU SEE, SHE IS THE HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! I THINK IF YOU SPREAD YOUR FRIEND ENERGY OUT MORE, YOU’LL HAVE A MUCH HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE! THERE IS A CATCH, HOWEVER.”

“What’s that?” Chara folded his arms.

“HER OPINION OF HUMANS IS VERY… MURDERY.”

“Oh…” The two lowered their heads.

“DO NOT WORRY! WITH THE POWER OF ALL EIGHT OF YOU, YOU ALL WILL BE FRIENDS IN NO TIME!”

“What exactly do you mean by eight?” Frisk asked.

“THE SIX OTHERS WITH YOU… CAN YOU NOT SEE THEM…?”

Frisk and Chara shook their heads in the negative.

“HMM. THAT’S ODD.”

“What do they look like?” Chara dug his foot into the ground.

“WELL, THEY’RE VERY COLORFUL. THEY ALL HAVE THEIR OWN GLOW, AND THE PURPLE ONE IS ALWAYS LOOKING AT ME SUSPICIOUSLY…”

“What are their names?” Frisk asked Chara’s question.

“WELL... “ Papyrus looked around the room, nodding all the while. He cleared his throat and pointed to a different part of the room. “THAT ONE CALLS THEMSELF, SAM. THEN THERE’S CLOVER, LUKE, ALEX, CASS, AND THE LAST ONE IS ALYSSA.”

Chara put a hand on his chest and smiled. He looked up at Papyrus. “How come you can see them, and why aren’t you freaking out about it?”

“I’M NOT SURE HOW TO ANSWER THE FIRST QUESTION. I KNEW SANS DIDN’T SEE THEM, BECAUSE HE LOOKED AT ME FUNNY WHEN I ASKED ABOUT THEM, BUT AS FOR YOUR SECOND QUESTION, THE BEST WAY I CAN PUT IT IS… WELL, THIS ISN’T THE FIRST TIME SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENED.”

“It’s not?”

“NOPE! WHEN I WAS A KID, I USED TO SEE THIS ONE PERSON, WHO WAS ALMOST LIKE THICK WATER, BUT NO ONE ELSE SAW HIM. SANS HAD ALWAYS CALLED HIM IMAGINARY, AND WHEN HE DISAPPEARED, I BEGAN TO THOUGHT SO AS WELL, UNTIL I SAW THESE GUYS.”

“Wow…” Chara wiped his eyes.

“So… How do we become friends with your boss?” Frisk asked.

“NOT TO WORRY, I’LL HAVE THAT FIGURED OUT IN DUE TIME! FOR NOW, I’M SURE YOUR ANXIOUS TO SEE THE REST OF THE UNDERGROUND!” Papyrus pulled out a slip of paper. “HERE’S MY NUMBER! FEEL FREE TO CALL ON ME ANYTIME. PLATONICALLY…” With that, Papyrus threw on his scarf, returned into his battle body, and left the room. Frisk looked over to Chara, who remained stationary.

“Chara…?”

“I should’ve figured you guys were watching.” Chara muttered.

Frisk patted Chara’s shoulder, as he looked around the room in both joy, that they were indeed with them, and grief, that they couldn’t see or hear them. Frisk stayed silent, until something clicked in her head. “Wait… You laughed at the pun earlier. I thought you didn’t like them.”

“I actually found them pretty funny, but then Mom and Sans showed up." Chara explained. "Well… Mainly Sans…”

“Oh…”

“Anyway, let’s get going. I’m starting to feel weird being in Papyrus’ room without him in it.”

“Good point.”

* * *

Frisk gaped at the sudden change in scenery, as the Snow was replaced with a calming, deep blue dirt, and the walls seemed to shimmer with their glittering rocks lodged deep inside. Chara looked at her with amusement, as he pulled down his hood. “It gets better. Waterfall was always one of the more pleasing parts of the underground.” 

“I can’t wait!" Frisk said excitedly, rolling up the sleeves to her sweater. "Hopefully my eyesight doesn’t ruin that image.”

“Trust me, even monsters who had bad eyesight loved it.” The two continued down the road, only to stop when they spotted a familiar station, operated by an even more familiar Sans. “Sans?” Frisk tilted her head.

“what? haven’t seen a guy with two jobs before?” Frisk shook her head, while Chara rolled his eyes. “fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks.” Sans winked. “i’m going to Grillby’s, wanna come?”

“Sure!” Frisk replied enthusiastically.

“Love too!” Chara added in a more calm tone.

“well, if you insist… i’ll pry myself away from my work.” Sans walked from his station and turned to continue down the path towards Waterfall. “follow me, i know a shortcut.” Frisk and Chara looked at each other, and then followed Sans down the path. They blinked, and then all of sudden, they were inside a warm building, the wood on the ground creaking with their entrance steps. The two looked around wildly. Sans noticed their looks. “fast shortcut, huh?”

“You’re telling me…” Chara muttered. He looked around the the joint, spotting four of the canine unit sitting together at a large table playing poker, with the final dog sitting at a smaller table playing by itself...Somehow. There was a bunny resting it's head on one of the booth tables, looking pretty out of it, with a horse monster sitting at the bar next to the jukebox, which played a low guitar riff throughout the building, with a TV resting in the corner above a neon sign bearing the name of the building. Chara looked to the bar proper, with the one running it being a humanoid, flame monster, wiping down a glass, or maybe they were molding a glass. Hard to tell. Frisk let out a soft chuckle, no doubt at the irony of someone made of fire possibly handling alcohol.

Sans turned to face the diner goers. “hey everyone.”

“Hey, Sans.” The male cloaked dog greeted with a wave.

(Hi, Sans!) The female cloaked dog greeted.

“'Sup, Sans.” The horse monster at the bar waved lazily.

“Hiya, Sansy~” The tipsy bunny at the booth table said with a flirtatious tone.

“By the way, Sans.” The horse monster at the bar suddenly said, pointing to the short skeleton. “Weren’t you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?”

“nah, i haven’t had breakfast in at least half an hour. you must be thinking of brunch.” The bar erupted into laughter, and Sans gestured to the humans to have a seat. Sans and Frisk sat down, while Chara took a few seconds to get rid of the whoopie cushion on his seat. “so, whaddya guys want?”

“A burger sounds nice.” Frisk said.

“I’ll take fries.” Chara responded as he sat down.

“those do sound good. hey Grillby, we’ll take one burger and a double order of fries.” Grillby, the flame monster and obvious owner of the building, nodded and went into the next room to get the order. Sans took out a comb and brushed his skull. “so, what do you two think of my brother?”

“He’s nice.” Chara replied.

“His energy is pretty infectious, but that’s a good thing in my opinion.” Frisk responded.

“that’s Papyrus for ya. If you wore that outfit everyday, you’d be the same way.” Sans put the comb away. Grillby came out of the other room, and set down everyone’s order. “here comes the grub.” Sans pulled out a bottle of ketchup. “either of you two want some ketchup with your food?”

“I’m good. I’m not that fond of ketchup.” Frisk took a bite of her food.

“I like my fries how they are.” Chara responded, eating a few fries.”

“suit yourself.” Sans opened the bottle of ketchup and chugged it. Frisk watched in horror, but Chara had seen Sans do weirder. Sans set the now empty ketchup bottle aside. “anyway, cool or not, you have to admit, Papyrus tried real hard.” The two humans kept their ears open as they munched on their food. “like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard. one day, he went to the house of the head of the guard, and begged her to let him in it. of course, since it was midnight, she shut the door on him. the next day, she woke up, and saw him still waiting there. seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training.” Frisk nodded as she set down her burger and wiped her hands on a napkin. Chara stared at a particularly interesting fry on his plate. “oh yeah, i wanted to ask you guys something.” The world seemed to pause at Sans’ words, and the humans felt a chill run down their spines. “you ever heard of a talking flower?” 

Frisk tensed up in her seat, already wondering if Sans knew about Flowey, and if she should mention the homicidal house-plant. Chara on the other hand, shrugged. “The Echo Flower. They’re all over the marsh. Everyone knows that.”

Sans didn’t respond at first. Frisk felt as though he wasn’t expecting that answer. “What’s an Echo Flower?” She asked.

“They’re a blue flower that only grows in Waterfall. Say something near them, and they repeat it back. You always have to watch what you say around them, otherwise they might repeat something that was never meant to be heard.” Chara explained.

“Huh..." Frisk turned to Sans. "What about them?” 

“well, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day. he said that, sometimes, when no one else is around, a flower appears and whispers things to him.” Both Frisk and Chara were deathly still in their seats. “flattery, advice, encouragement… predictions.” Sans took a bite out of a few fries. “weird, huh?” The humans nodded.

“Someone must be using an Echo Flower to play a trick on him.” Chara suggested.

“We’ll keep an eye out.” Frisk added.

“...thanks.” Sans replied, and the world resumed motion. Sans stood up and stretched. “welp, that was a long break. can’t believe i let you two pull me away from work that long.” Sans turned back to the bar. “by the way, i’m flat broke. can you foot the bill? it’s only 10,000G.” Frisk and Chara choked on their food at the price. Sans gave a small chuckle. “just kidding. Grillby, put it on my tab.”

_“The one you still need to pay…”_ A raspy, but also wispy whisper answered. Sans made his way to the entrance to the diner, before turning back to face the humans. 

“by the way…” Sans rubbed his skull. “i was gonna say something… but i forgot.” Sans left the diner.

Frisk risked a glance at Chara, who was slowly starting to eat his fries again. _“Chara?”_ Frisk whispered to not be heard by the other patrons.

_“He was wondering about Flowey.”_ Chara whispered back. _“We need to be careful.”_

_“Yeah. Why didn’t you confirm his suspicion?”_

_“My own reasons…”_ Chara focused solely on his fries, as if eating them was a puzzle in their own right. Frisk wanted to ask, but felt if it was best to wait till Chara was willing to talk. 

Just how exactly did Sans know about Flowey?

_**END OF CHAPTER 2** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> could you tell how much fun I had writing the hang out?
> 
> Sans gives me the most trouble writing, mainly because he speak solely in lowercase and I write this all on Google Docs, so I have to go back to each of his lines to fix certain capitalizations, but at this point, to save myself trouble, anytime he mentions a place, or person, the capitalization remains.


	14. Interlude 2: Electri-

“Don’t you dare finish that title!” Sam threatens.

“That jokes been done to death, so let’s just get on with it.” Clover adds.

The other four humans are looking around confused. “Who’re you two talking to?” Luke asks.

“Huh?” Sam looked at Luke.

“We didn’t say anything.” Clover replied.

“I-Wait… huh?” Luke paused. “Sorry, I don’t… huh…”

“Well anyway, looks like we’re going to Grillby’s.” Clover pointed out. 

“Looks like they’ll be getting something too!” Alex commented. “I wonder what they serve.”

“It looks like a diner, so I expect stuff like burgers and-” Alyssa stopped and looked around. “Wait, that was fast…”

“Didn’t they continue towards Waterfall?” Cass asked.

“Sans mentioned a shortcut… I guess we missed it.” Sam adjusted their glasses. They looked around the building. "Looks like a bar/diner mix. Given the rows of bottles behind the flame monster in front of them..."

"So the adult monsters can get their drinks, and the kids can get the joys of diner food." Alyssa quipped.

"Seem like it." Sam replied. Alyssa felt a twinge of pride at that.

Clover walked over to where one of the canine unit members was sitting alone, playing poker with itself. “They’re still losing to themself…” Clover was in awe.

“I once knew someone who’d have staring contests with their mirror. They always said that the mirror loses…” Luke twirled his pan.

“I know for a fact that you’re making that up.” Alyssa said dryly. Luke laughed.

“Do you guys think we’ll be able to be friends with Undyne?” Cass asked suddenly.

Everyone looked at Cass. “What brought that on?” Alex asked.

“Well, it feels like it might be impossible from what Papyrus said.”

“But he also said he would find a way!” Alyssa reminded.

“OH MY GOD!!!” Luke cried out.

“What?!” Clover was worried.

“We forgot to tell Papyrus W.D. said hi!”

Sam facepalmed. “Geez, way to get everyone worked up.”

“But-”

“We’ll have plenty of other times to tell him, Luke!” Clover put a hand on Luke's shoulder.

“I guess…” Luke blushed.

_“oh yeah, i wanted to ask you guys something. you ever heard of a talking flower?”_ The fallen children finally focused on the conversation.

“Flowey…” Clover muttered.

_“The Echo Flower. They’re all over the marsh. Everyone knows that.”_ Chara replied.

“What?! No, ask him about Flowey!” Clover cried out.

“Wait!” Sam spoke out, holding a hand out towards Clover. "Let them speak..."

Everyone raised an eyebrow, with Alyssa held out a hand towards Sam, but in the end, left it hanging in the air. “Sam?”

_“They’re a blue flower that only grows in Waterfall. Say something near them, and they repeat it back. You always have to watch what you say around them, otherwise they might repeat something that was never meant to be heard.”_ Chara explained to Frisk.

_“They… repeat what they heard…”_ Sam said under their breath, hovering a hand near their neck.

“Sam? Are you ok?” Alex asked.

“Huh?" Sam looked to Alex and put on a brave face. "Oh, yeah. I-I’m fine…”

“That didn’t sound very convincing.” Alyssa pointed out.

“I just… remembered something.” Sam adjusted their glasses.

“What was it?” Cass wondered.

_“None of your guys' business…”_ Sam whispered.

“What?” Alyssa asked.

“It’s not important.” Sam replied, acting more aloof than usual.

* * *

Frisk and Chara finished their meals, and went outside. They were walking back to the entrance to Waterfall, and ran into Monster Kid. 

_“Oh hey! You guys sneaking out to see Undyne in action too?!”_

“Undyne’s pretty famous.” Luke mentioned.

“Well, she’s the head of the royal guard, so there must be some fame to come from that.” Alyssa explained.

Luke shrugged. “True.”

“I wonder how she fights!” Alex perked up. “You think it’ll one up Papyrus’ fight?!”

“He isn’t part of the guard, but fought like he was, so maybe the head of the guard will be even crazier.” Clover replied.

“I wonder what she’s like.” Cass spoke.

“I guess we’ll see!” Alyssa picked Cass up and gave her a piggyback ride.

Sam stayed far behind the group, and stayed very silent. _“Please. Please… Make it so that the flower forgot…”_ Sam whispered. They adjusted their glasses, and felt a liquid come from their nose. It was a deep black, that swallowed up any other light. Sam panicked, and wiped away the liquid before anyone noticed. They picked up the pace, but never spoke. _I’m going to hate this part…_ They felt a tap on their shoulder, pulling them out of their thoughts and saw Alyssa and Cass staring at them in concern.

"Are you going to be ok?" Alyssa asked.

"Yes, now let's get a move on." Sam redirected Alyssa towards the group and pushed them along, trying to sort their thoughts together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (It seems Sam is keeping a secret...)


	15. Chapter 3: WATERFALL-1

_'I swore I saw something behind that running water.'_ The flower spoke. Chara raised an eyebrow at the proclamation, and quickly returned to Frisk, who was watching the rocks pass by. She looked to Chara. “So what did it say?”

Chara pointed towards the waterfall, where volleys of rocks flowed down. “There’s something behind the waterfall.”

Frisk raised a brow. “Did it say what?”

Chara shook his head and sighed. “Nope. So we need to find out ourselves.” 

“Of course we do.” Frisk mumbled.

Chara reached out a hands towards Frisk. “I’ll keep an eye out for the rocks.” 

Frisk smiled and took the hand. “Thanks.” Chara and Frisk carefully trekked the water. Unbeknownst to them, Alyssa watched and followed the duo closely, as they made their way through the water. Cass looked down at Alyssa from atop the older girl's shoulders.

“Is there something familiar about this for you, Alyssa?” Cass asked.

Alyssa chuckled. “They’ve been doing good so far on getting everyone’s things, I’d hate if they missed mine.”

Cass smiled. “What’s behind the waterfall?”

“My Tutu!” Alyssa answered swiftly as Frisk walked through the water, while Chara waited outside. She emerged from behind the water with a dusty, slightly wet Tutu. Chara gave it a quick look. 

“Do you think it’ll fit, or do we need to put it with the gloves?” He asked with a tilt of his head.

“One way to find out.” Frisk slips on the Tutu, which goes on without a hassle, despite the fact that Frisk wasn’t really in the proper attire for it. “That answers that question!”

Chara chuckled. “It works well with the ribbon!”

Frisk blushed. “It does?” Chara nodded. Frisk nervously rubbed the back of her neck. “That’s good to know. It’ll definitely help with fights.”

“Yeah, there’s that.” Chara agreed. He stood still awhile, enjoying the mist of water kicking up from the rushing water, when a thought crossed his mind. “How’d you summon those weapons, without any guidance?”

“I-I don’t know… I think my nightmare must’ve woke something up within me.” Frisk guessed.

Chara hummed. “Well, it’s good you woke up when you did. It didn’t seem like you were in control of them.”

Frisk hummed. “Maybe I could learn.”

Chara got the hint. “We need to find a better place to practice than here.”

“I’m willing to wait!” Frisk gave a patient smile.

“Good. Now let’s push on.” Chara grabbed Frisk’s hand and the two got past the rocks without any trouble. They continued down the path, which led into a patch of tall grass. Chara looked at it with one eyebrow raised.

Frisk noticed Chara's expression. “What’s up?”

“I thought they would’ve taken the grass down by now. There’s no use for it.” Chara walked into the grass, with Frisk closely behind. They made it to what seemed to be the middle, before a chill ran down their spines. Something menacing was nearby, they could tell. They heard the sound of hurried footsteps, and froze.

“What’s going on?” Luke asked.

“Let’s find out.” Alex suggested.

“Cass can look from atop my shoulders, while one of you guys hoist me up.” Alyssa commented.

“I think I’m the best bet for that.” Clover offered.

Alyssa positioned herself onto Clovers shoulders. They stood up, giving Cass a better height advantage, as she adjusted her position on Alyssa’s shoulders. Cass could see the ground of the upper level, which was better than nothing. She glanced to her right, to see the form of something. She couldn’t tell due to the shadows, which was odd, since she could see the overturned minecart just fine. To her left was the oncoming Papyrus, who made a quick glance at the cyan colored child, and made a finger over his mouth to communicate to her to keep quiet. She gave a salute, and focused solely on the conversation.

Papyrus cleared his throat. “H… HI UNDYNE! I’M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT… REGARDING THE HUMANS I CALLED ABOUT EARLIER.”

“Did you fight them?” A shrill, intimidating voice answered. Cass glanced at the figure, and could now see a bright, flaming red plume. She still couldn't see the rest of the figure however.

“UH, OF COURSE I DID, AND I FOUGHT VALIANTLY! IN FACT-”

“Did you capture them?”

“WELL..." Papyrus sighed. "NO… I TRIED BUT… I FAILED.”

The figure sighed, and the sound of shifting metal gave off the impression that the figure shifted their position, but it was still hard to tell. "Then I’ll take their SOULS myself.”

“WAIT... BOTH OF THEM?!" Papyrus cried out. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID ONLY SEVEN WERE NEEDED.” Papyrus made a sound of confusion. "OR DID I MISHEAR YOU? I TEND TO DO THAT SOMETIMES, AND-"

“Papyrus." The figure said coldly, causing the skeleton to stop his train of thought. The figure sighed, and moved towards the skeleton, revealing to Cass the armored warrior, her face obscured by a fanged helmet. Undyne rested a hand on Papyrus' shoulder. "Something’s wrong with the other SOULS, Papyrus. They’re breaking." Undyne said solemnly. "Seven may not be enough with the other damages.”

Chara put a hand over his chest. Alex tugged at Sam’s cloak.

Sam looked down at Alex. “Hmm?” 

_“Is that our fault? That the souls are breaking?”_ The younger boy asked, digging his shoe into the ground in shame.

Sam pinched their nose, and let out a drawn out breath. “What kind of question is that?! We gave pieces of our SOULS to Chara, of course it’s OUR FAULT!!”

Papyrus made a quick look over to the edge, where Cass made a look to Sam. Undyne noticed Papyrus' unease and gripped his shoulders. “What’s wrong?”

“AH, WELL, I JUST THOUGHT I HEARD SOMETHING AND-”

A spear suddenly appeared in Undyne's hand, and she hurriedly made her way to the edge. Cass was afraid at first, but Undyne made no glances at the little girl, and instead peered over the edge, looking into the grass. Cass stared into the fanged visage of Undyne's helmet, and saw a single, glinting yellow eye within. Undyne looked back and forth into the grass, slowly, getting rid of the spear. “You three. The grass is under protection due to research from the Royal Scientist, so don’t go messing around with it.” With that warning out of the way, Undyne returned to Papyrus. “Go back home Papyrus.”

“UN-UNDYNE, I-” Papyrus stopped his train of thought when Undyne turned her head to him. He could feel the glare. “I-I UNDERSTAND…” Papyrus left. Undyne took one last look at the edge.

“Alright humans, you’re in my turf now…” Undyne backed away into the shadows, a sharp glimmer shining from her right eye, before the presence could no longer be felt.

Chara let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding, and the two exited the grass, before Monster Kid appeared shortly afterwards. The humans jumped at the sight of the monster, having not noticed them in the grass, but Monster Kid was too busy buzzing with joy to notice their faces. “Oh dudes did you see that?! She looked right at you two! I don’t know what you did to get her attention, but I am so jealous right now!” They seemed to have no need to take a breath when talking. “Come on, let’s go watch her beat up the bad guys!” Monster Kid got a head start, and then face planted.

“Are you ok?” Frisk picked Monster Kid up.

“I’m fine, that happens a lot!” Monster Kid ran off.

Chara leaned into Frisk. _“Should we tell them it was because we’re the humans Undyne was looking for?”_

_“Maybe if he gives us the time.”_

Chara and Frisk continued down the road, while the five spectral children began to chastise Sam.

“What was that?!” Clover yelled. “You could’ve gotten them killed!”

“Undyne didn’t hear me.” Sam countered.

“No, but Papyrus did!” Cass counter-countered.

“Well that was his fault for getting distracted by us!” Sam adjusted their glasses with force. “If he can’t focus on an important conversation with his boss, just because of something as small as that, then he has no shot at being a royal guard!” Sam rushed ahead to follow the two living humans.

“SAM!!” Luke cried out.

“What’s going on with them?” Alex asked.

“They started acting up after hearing about the Echo Flowers, and they seem anxious about being in Waterfall again.” Alyssa said with a conspiratorial tone. "Something about this place must be bringing back memories for them, or something..."

“Is that what has them so riled up?” Cass muttered.

“ARE YOU GUYS COMING OR NOT?!?!” Sam called out.

* * *

Frisk glanced at her cheat sheet, and then back up to the mural. “‘When four bridge seeds align in the water, they will sprout.’” Frisk put the sheet away. “Sound simple enough.” She continued down the path, and looked around for the seeds, which sat comfortably to her left. “I’ll take one, you take one.” Frisk explained.

“That’ll be faster, yes.” Chara picked up a seed and sent it floating down the water which impeded their path. Frisk set hers soon after while Chara grabbed the second to last seed. When Frisk set down the last seed, vines from each seed took hold of the other, with giant flowers blooming from each seed, connecting to the other like the vines, forming a bridge. Chara walked on it immediately, and turned to Frisk. “They don’t collapse from weight. They’re pretty damn sturdy.” Chara increased the pressure of his foot to demonstrate. Frisk still walked carefully, due to habit.

Further down the path was a bridge that led to a wide open area, but as soon as they got close, a fight initiated. The duo stared at their aggressor which was some sort of buff horse-mermaid monster, who just winked at the two humans and grinned. Frisk made a noise of disgust at the sight, while Chara let out a groan, and then flexed his arm. Frisk just stared at Chara. "Um...What are you doing?"

“Oh, a flexing competition! But I won’t lose!” The monster winked, and then flexed both of their arms, which seemed to reflect in their bullets, which were also giant flexing arms that seemed to increase in speed with each flex, making it difficult for the two humans to dodge fully. Chara flexed harder, which caused the monster to flex again, with even more force, causing it's sweat to fling towards the humans in the form of bullets. Frisk gagged while Chara flexed one more time, the monster flexed with so much power, it was flung away from the humans from it's own flex.

Chara sighed and rested his hands on his knees. “I really hate those guys.”

“What was that?” Frisk asked. "And why was it so...Frat-boy like?"

“That was an Aaron, and they are the definition of the jock stereotype.” Chara explained. "Almost on the same level as Jerry for me."

“Huh…” Frisk scratched her head. This place was really starting to get confusing.

“Anyway,” Chara perked up. “Let’s continue before another one shows up.” The wide, open area was another bridge seed puzzle. Frisk looked at the seeds, before noticing a yellow shape. “Bridge seed bell.” Chara said. “If an error is made, it calls the seeds back.”

Frisk made a noise of excitement. “That’s useful!” 

“Yep!” Chara picked one up, but went to the small indent in the area, before setting the seed floating down. Chara noticed Frisk’s unamused look. “There’s a bench over here that’s pretty isolated. It’s a good spot to learn how to control your magic.”

“Oh.”

“Did you actually think I did that for no reason?” Chara asked smugly.

“N-no.” Frisk picked up a seed and sent it down to follow the other one.

“Uh-huh.” Chara replied.

The two finished the bridge, and Chara pulled Frisk into the isolated resting spot. “Why is it so isolated?”

“No idea.” Chara shrugged.

Frisk walked over to the bench, and leaned into the large, blue flower planted nearby planted near-by. ' _I just couldn’t handle the responsibility.'_ The flower spoke. “What does that mean?” Frisk asked. She looked at the bench, and noticed a slight shine underneath. She reached under the bench, and pulled out a quiche, still in it's pie tin and covered with a layer of tinfoil. “Was it talking about this?”

“Seems like it. Not sure why, but it would make a great snack during our practice.” Chara sat down on the bench, and patted on the space next to him.

Frisk sat down and set the quiche between them. “So what do I do first?”

“The first thing to remember about summoning a weapon-”

* * *

“-Is to take a deep breath.” The blonde bearded boss monster spoke calmly and slowly.

“Take a deep breath.” Chara echoes, before doing exactly that.

“Clear your mind, you don’t want any distractions.” The monster continued. “When your mind is clear, your stance will relax, which will make it easier to control the weapon.”

“Clear my mind.” Chara reminded himself, and tried, but he kept thinking about clearing his mind, which made him think of what a clear mind felt like, which made him think even harder about clearing his mind. He made the face one would make when they started to overthink about something.

The monster chuckled. “Yes, that second part tends to be the most challenging part. Especially during a fight.”

“Have you ever needed to fight with your trident?” Chara asked.

“Yes…” The monster went quiet. “During the war.” 

Chara went wide eye, and then stared at the floor. “Oh, I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you-”

“Chara, it’s alright. It was ages ago. I mean, I was still a prince when it happened.” The monster reassured Chara.

“Still, it must bring awful memories.” Chara said meekly.

“It does. We monsters thought nothing but awful things about the humans." The monster sighed contemplatively, but then let out a giant smile towards Chara. "But you’re a beacon of hope for us!”

“I am?” Chara just stared back at the monster with a confused expression.

“Of course! You showed us that humans and monsters could still be friends when given the chance!” The monster pat Chara on the head. “If we ever become free from this prison, we know that you’ll be able to speak of our kindness!”

Chara smiled at the thought. It was true. The monsters had been nothing but kind to him, despite him being a human. Despite him being a key to their escape, they helped him. They let him live, and they had chosen to treat him as one of their own. With a smile, he took a deep breath, and another, and another. With each breath, the tension left his shoulders. His mind was nothing more but a black backdrop. Eventually, he felt a pulse, and within the darkness was the image of a crimson red cartoon looking heart. The heart pulsed, and began to change it's shape. Chara opened his eyes.

* * *

Frisk took a few deep breaths, losing the tension from her shoulders with each breath. Chara watched on with a proud smile. Even if she couldn’t summon her weapon, she learned pretty quickly how to clear her mind, which was the most important step. Frisk's SOUL began hovering in front of her. She reached out her hand, as the SOUL began to pulse, causing a mist of red to float over to her extended hand, and began to solidify. Frisk wrapped her fingers around the handle, and opened her eyes to see a crimson red sword in her hand. “Congratulations!” Chara looked at the sword curiously. “Lucky. You got a sword and all I get are knives.”

“Multiple knives.” Frisk replied.

“True." Chara admitted, before letting out a bright smile. "But swords are cooler.”

Frisk chuckled, and then looked at her new sword curiously. “So, what now?”

“Try giving it a few swings. Make sure it feels right.” Chara suggested. Frisk got up from the bench and took a few steps away from it. Once she was a good distance away, she gave the weapon a few swings. It felt a bit heavy, and her swings were pretty sloppy. She struck the wall, which made her jump and drop the sword, causing it to dissipate back into a mist, and fade away. Chara chuckled at the sight. “You don’t have to use it in a fight, but it’s probably for the best that you get better practice with it. They get easier to summon the more you do it.”

Frisk smiled. “Well, we’ll have to make sure I keep up on that.”

“Of course.” Chara stood up from the bench. “We can leave the tray here. If it was left here, the person wanted to make sure it was never found.”

“Alright…” Frisk tilted her head. “I’m still confused as to why someone left a quiche here. It definitely wasn’t because it was bad, because it wasn’t.”

“No use thinking about it.” Chara explained. “You’ll tear your hair out trying to find answers.”

“Fair point.” Frisk exited the room. Chara stretched before following Frisk.

The other children followed shortly after, happy that Frisk was able to summon her weapon with no issue. Sam stayed behind and stared at the quiche tray. “Some people just aren’t ready…” They turned around and followed the others. The Echo flower stirred. ' _Some people just aren’t ready…'_ was repeated over and over in the lone room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, the fallen children are going to be prominent during the next few chapters. They'll have more presence in the Waterfall chapters, and only some in Hotland. If this chapter was more confusing, I'll try and find a way to make it clearer in the next ones.
> 
> In other news, I feel like the Waterfall arc is going to give me more of a pain than Snowdin or the Ruins, so I'll look at a map for it or something for me to understand how to describe the layout. 
> 
> So... Sam... Any theories?
> 
> (The reason Frisk summoned Daggers when she had the nightmare was because the magic was force out. When properly summoned, it becomes a sword.)


	16. Chapter 3: WATERFALL-2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: YOU SEE THE TAGS? YOU KNOW THE TAGS. SEVERE TRIGGER WARNING!!!

Chara and Frisk did the bridge seed puzzle correctly this time, and walked across the gap, reaching the door to the next room.

_Ring… Ring…_

Chara took the phone out of his pocket, thinking it was just another person who called the wrong number. “Hello?”

_“HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!!”_ Chara was actually happy that it was Papyrus, but then he realized.

“Wait, I just realized, we didn’t give you our number.”

Papyrus chuckled. _“NOT TO WORRY! I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GOT YOURS!!”_

“That must’ve been a few awkward phone calls…” Chara said flatly.

_“WELL… YES. BUT IT WAS WORTH IT!”_ Someone protect this skeleton… “SO… THIS MAY SOUND WEIRD, BUT WHAT ARE YOU TWO WEARING?”

“May I ask why?”

_“WELL… UNDYNE SWORE THAT SHE SAW YOU TWO, SAYING HOW YOU WERE WEARING A BANDANA AROUND YOUR ARM, A LOCKET AROUND YOUR NECK AND HOW FRISK WORE A FADED RIBBON AND A DUSTY TUTU.”_ Papyrus explained.

Chara sighed. “I’m guessing we should probably worry about that.”

_“I’M AFRAID SO. AS I'VE SAID, HER OPINION OF HUMANS IS VERY… MURDERY.”_

“You don’t say.” Chara replied sarcastically.

_“SO… YOU TWO ARE WEARING WHAT SHE THOUGHT YOU GUYS WERE WEARING. GOT IT!! WINK WINK!!”_ Papyrus' voice went distant as he no doubt went to hang up, but then his voice was clear again. _“BY THE WAY, TELL SAM TO KEEP THEIR VOICE DOWN WHEN I’M TALKING TO MY SUPERIORS NEXT TIME! THAT COULD’VE ENDED BADLY!”_

“You heard him Sam!” Chara called out to the air.

“Neither of you are my mom…” Sam hissed.

_“EITHER WAY, YOU SHOULD’VE KNOWN THAT WAS DANGEROUS!!”_

“Shit! I forgot he could hear that!” Sam facepalmed.

“The entire point was him saying he could hear you!” Luke snarked.

**_“SHUT IT!”_** Sam cried out.

_“UM… ANYWAY… GOOD LUCK!! THE NEXT ROOM IS THE WISHING ROOM!!”_

“Wait, how’d you know where we-” Papyrus hung up. “How’d he know we weren’t even past that point yet?” Frisk shrugged. Chara gave a chuckle. “Well, Undyne knows to watch out for our attire, so we should put the Tutu, Mandana and Ribbon away.”

“You’re still gonna call the bandana that?” Frisk raised an eyebrow.

“Yes. We can fit the Ribbon and Mandana in our pockets, and I can hide my locket beneath my shirt...The Tutu on the other hand, might be a different story.”

“We could hurry and put it in the box.” Frisk suggested. 

Chara hummed in thought for a few seconds, before smiling and nodding. “That sounds good! I can handle that, while you look inside the wishing room. It’s really pretty.” Chara gave Frisk the phone. “If you want, you can call Papyrus to keep you company, and because monsters don’t like to attack people who are on the phone.”

Frisk raised a brow. “How do you know that?”

“Experience.” Chara winked.

Frisk handed Chara the Tutu and walked into the wishing room. She looked at the phone, which was pretty old, but it only takes calls, so it was easy to figure out how to find Papyrus' phone number and call him. “Hi Papyrus!”

_“AH FRISK, I SEE YOU ARE IN THE WISHING ROOM!”_ Papyrus replied from the other side.

“How exactly do you know that?” 

_“INTUITION!"_ Papyrus replied enthusiastically. _"BUT WHILE YOU’RE THERE, WHY DON’T YOU MAKE A WISH!?”_

Frisk hummed. “How do monsters make a wish?”

_“WELL… HOW DO HUMANS?”_

“During the night, if we looked into the sky, and saw a flying star, we would make a wish during it’s flight.” Frisk recounted humans' way of wishmaking. “I’ve done that a lot.”

_“AH WELL, ACCORDING TO SANS, MONSTERS USED TO DO THE SAME THING, BUT WHEN WE WERE TRAPPED UNDERGROUND, WE HAD TO FIND OTHER WAYS. THE WISHING ROOM BECAME THAT WAY, DUE TO THE SPARKLY STONES ON THE CEILING OF THE ROOM. IF YOU HOPE DEEP DOWN, THE WISH WOULD COME TRUE. FOR EXAMPLE, EARLIER IN THE WEEK, I WISHED I HAD A COOL FRIEND TO TALK TOO, AND LOOK! IT’S COME TRUE!!”_

Frisk smiled at the proclamation. “That sounds nice. I think… The wishes I made on the surface are beginning to come true too!”

_“WELL THAT’S WONDERFUL NEWS!! ALTHOUGH, IT NEVER HURTS TO MAKE MORE! THERE ARE STILL PLENTY OF THINGS I WISH FOR!! NYEH HEH HEH!”_ Papyrus began listing off some of his other wishes, while Frisk just stayed still, and listened.

* * *

“What’d you wish for Frisk?” Rose asked, looking up at the sky.

“If I say what it is, it won’t come true.” Frisk replied.

Rose sat up and gave Frisk a disapproving stare. “Come on, Frisk, at least give me a hint!”

“Rose, they’re just stupid, impossible hopes.”

“Oh no, are you like Jacob?”

“Hey, an infinite slice of pizza is an amazing wish!” A distant voice called out.

“For someone with no life maybe!” Rose and Frisk started to laugh.

“I came here hoping for a good time, and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now!” The voice called out again.

“Good!”

Frisk slowly stopped laughing. “But seriously, don’t worry about my wish and worry about your own!”

“Fine, but I will get you to talk about it someday!”

“Good luck with that!” Frisk rolled her eyes. She gazed up at the stars, and everything was drowned out. _I just want my family to be normal… But that’s just a silly fantasy… No one can change that easily… Especially them… Especially her… I just want a normal family..._

* * *

Chara came into the wishing room just as Frisk hung up the phone. “Hi!”

“Greetings! How was your guy’s talk?”

“It was good, but him somehow knowing where I was threw me for a loop.” Frisk handed Chara the phone.

“We need to ask both of them how they can do the things they do.” Chara put the phone away, and looked around the room. “It’s lovely.”

“It is, but nothing beats the real things.”

“No. Nothing really does...” Chara stared at the sparkling rocks in the ceiling. “I wonder if Sans still has that Astronomy book.”

“He’s into Astronomy?” Frisk raised a brow.

“He’s into a lot of sciencey stuff, or at least he was.” Chara sighed. “Anyway, let’s proceed.”

“Okay.” The two walked through the room, and Frisk spotted a telescope. She went to use it, while Chara went down the hall, where the path seemingly ended. He touched the wall, revealing a hidden door. “Huh, someone wrote ‘Check wall’ on the lens.”

“I think that’s because people kept seeing the wall over here and thought it was a dead-end.” Chara gestured to the door. “I understand their pain.”

“Wow, a fake wall!" Frisk exclaimed. "Kris used to play a few games that were filled with those.”

“They’re a staple.” Chara walked through the door, leading to a wooden walkway. He stepped onto the planks, and looked at the murals, which detailed a few details about human SOULS and their strengths, and their weakness. Details about how a monster can absorb the SOUL of a human, thanks to it persisting after the human’s death, finishing off with an illustration of a horrible looking beast. Chara felt his stomach drop. _I saw through his eyes, but I didn’t see what he looked like… Did he look as horrible as this…?_ Frisk finally caught up to Chara, who was confused as to why she took so long.

“Sorry about that, I wanted to voice my own little wish.” Frisk explained.

“Oh really?" Chara's eyes widened. "What was it?”

“Sorry, but if I tell you, it won’t come true.” Frisk replied, with very animated movement.

“I wish she didn’t.” Clover deadpanned.

“I can’t feel my ears.” Alex commented.

Sam groaned and looked to Alyssa. "You're not going to let us live it down, are you?"

"Nope!~" Alyssa replied in a sing-song voice. Sam facepalmed.

“Well, we have to ride this in order to continue.” Chara pointed to a lone boat sitting in the water. It barely looked large enough to fit two people.

“Is that going to fit both of us?” Frisk asked Chara, eyes glued to the boat.

“It fit me and Az, so I don’t see why not?” Chara took Frisk’s hand and the two stepped onto the boat, which began floating to the other side, without any input from the two humans within.

Luke glanced around the ghostly group and raised a brow. “Wait, what about us?”

“Good questi-” Clover was interrupted by the sudden movement of him being pulled along towards the two living humans. “What the?”

“Wheee!” Alex and Cass laid down and let whatever was happening happen. The rest were more concerned/confused by what was going on, but eventually, they were right back near Frisk and Chara.

The two walked along the wooden path peacefully, until a spear came out of nowhere, and landed right in front of the two. The shadow veiled form of Undyne made itself present, and summoned more spears. Frisk and Chara bolted, not wanting to get caught by the pointed weapons. The run was going fine, until Frisk tripped on her foot and fell over. Chara quickly picked her up, only to push her forward. 

“CHARA!!”

A spear brushed against Chara’s torso, leaving a deep, bloody gash across his body, but the world turned grey, and his souls appeared before them, as more and more spears were summoned. He dodged some, but was overall unlucky, as the weapons gashed his arms, legs, and back. He stumbled forward a bit, dropping to his knees, as his SOUL began to crack, losing it’s peach color, and revealing it’s true form. An amalgamation of every other soul that has fallen into the underground. He stared into his patchwork SOUL, and desperately tried to get up.

_I…. can’t…. Die here…._

Everything seemed to slow down, as Chara slowly got to his feet, and began to weakly walk away, only to have a spear impale him through the back, shattering his SOUL instantly and leaving the world dark, darker, yet darker…

**_*Chara… You cannot give up now… You’re our shining beacon of HOPE… So please…. Stay DETERMINED._ **

Chara opened his eyes to see the SAVE point, but something was different. There were back at the wishing room side of the wooden bridge, and there definitely wasn’t a SAVE point here that time. He felt a sharp pain in his stomach where the spear pierced. It was brief, but it was painful.

“CHARA!!” Frisk ran up to Chara and tackled him with a hug, tears flowing down her face. “I-I-I-”

“Frisk, I’m fine!” Chara tried to reassure her. “Aside from the sharp pain in my stomach, everythings fine…”

Frisk let go of Chara, but was still crying. “It… It happened so fast… and yet…”

“I’m fine! We’re back where it didn’t happen! We can make sure it doesn’t happen again.” Chara gently put his hands on Frisk’s shoulders. “Just like at the Ruins, we’re safe. We can try again.”

Frisk wiped her eyes. “Right… Being a crybaby will just slow us down, huh?” Frisk gave a smile.

_Come on, Az. Stop being such a crybaby! You should smile… After all, you’re going to be free._ The words replayed like a broken record in Chara’s mind after Frisk had said that. Chara sighed. “If you want, we can take a small break. We shouldn’t need to rush all the time.” Chara spoke softly, propping himself up against the wall. Frisk sat down next to him, and the two said nothing, and just relaxed. Frisk set her head on Chara’s shoulder, which prompted a smile from him. “I’ll try to be more considerate.”

“What?” Frisk sat up and looked at Chara puzzled.

“If that ever happens again, I will try to be more considerate.” Chara repeated. “It was stupid of me to think that you wouldn’t breakdown after a sight like that.”

“Yes, it was. I only experienced it once, but that’s not enough to make me get used to it.”

“Well there’s one difference between us.” Chara laughed.

“That’s not funny.”

“It’s not funny.” Chara propped his head against arms, which were resting on his knees. “Laughing is just my go to when I’m stressed.”

“I’ve seen worse coping mechanisms.” 

“Yeah, well, it tends to cause confusion. When me and Az accidentally poisoned Dad, every day was so stressful for me, that I spent most of them laughing. The guards would give me dirty looks, but I didn’t try to explain. Gaster would always send medicine up to the capital to help Dad recover faster. The scientists would notice me laughing, but simply shrugged it off as me hearing or seeing something funny.”

Frisk didn’t respond. This was one of those times where it was best to just listen. “One day, when one of the scientists came to check on Dad, he was with someone else. They came up to me, and wanted to shake my hand. I reluctantly accepted, and then the sound of a whoopie cushion filled the room.” Chara chuckled.

“Oh my god. Is that how Sans always introduces himself?”

“Beats me. All I know is that after that happened, I burst into laughter. Genuine laughter.”

* * *

“There! That sounds better than your other laugh the last time I came here! Name’s Sans!” The skeleton greeted himself.

“C-Chara…” The boy stared at the skeleton, who only seemed to be a few feet taller than him.

“Yeah, I know. You’re kinda the talk of the underground.” Sans winked.

Chara's expression darkened and he looked to the floor. “Is it because I'm a human who hasn’t been killed yet, or because I accidently poisoned your king?”

Sans hummed in thought. “At first it was just because you were human, but some of the guards started talking about your laughing fits about the king’s health, so now there are rumors.”

“Of course.” Chara scoffed. “So what now? Are monsters going to storm the place and demand I die? Claiming that letting me live was a mistake?”

“Geez, you’re pretty damn morbid for a kid your age!” Sans flinched back a bit.

“Yeah, well I have the right to be.” Chara curled himself into a ball near the wall.

Sans shifted around uncomfortably. “Come on kid you're making me feel bad.” Sans sighed.

Chara let out a dry chuckle. “I have that effect.”

Sans looked around the hallway. “Look kid, nothing nothin’ bad is going to happen to you. You'd've been boned when you fell down if that was the case.”

Chara chuckled. “So you're making puns now?”

“I…” Sans paused, and then burst into laughter. “Oh that was unintentional too!” The two sat in the hallway cracking jokes at each other, before Sans was pulled away by the scientist, who had finished checking up on the sick king. Sans waved Chara goodbye, who felt significantly better.

* * *

“After that, whenever I visited the lab, Sans would be the one to keep me company. We would crack jokes, play pranks, discuss nerd shit. It was nice. He always said he wanted to be a scientist like his Dad, Gaster.” Chara was starting to sit up straighter. “It was fun.”

Frisk rested a hand on Chara’s. “Things can be like that again. That’s why we’re here isn’t it.” Frisk gave a smile. “I’m sorry for freaking out, but no matter what, we’ll get to Asgore, and we can bring everything back to how it was when you first fell down.” Chara looked at Frisk, and felt tears build up in his eyes, and pulled her into a hug.

“You’re right.” Chara muttered. “Everything will go back to normal. We’ll see to it…”

* * *

Luke broke out into a gasp, and pat down his stomach. He had felt the spear. Like it pierced him, instead of Chara.

“You felt it too?” Clover asked.

“That was scary.” Cass broke out into tears.

“What just happened to us?” Alex looked at the others.

Alyssa was watching the scene between Frisk and Chara. She would’ve squealed at Frisk’s unexpected hug, if it wasn’t for the searing pain in her stomach. “It felt so real.”

“Our SOULS are connected to Chara. Which means we can feel his pain.” Sam deduced, oddly calm.

“I don’t want to feel that… It was too much…” Cass was sobbing uncontrollably.

“Cass, don’t cry!” Luke rushed to Cass’ side. “He won’t let it happen again. He won’t…” Luke was having trouble believing his own words.

Clover looked to Sam. “Why are you so calm about this?”

“Because I figured that would be the case.” Sam hovered a hand over their neck, before adjusting their glasses.

“No.” Alyssa muttered.

“What?” 

“You’re hiding something from us!” Alyssa cried out. “Something that’s making you so… Weird!”

“Weird? Is that what you think of me?” Sam asked in an accusing tone.

“You have been acting kinda strange since we got here.” Alex commented.

“You’ve been acting aloof.” Luke stated. "Sam, is something wrong?"

“So you think I’m weird too…” Sam didn’t react to the others. They focused solely on Alyssa. “He, he, hehehe! Hehehehahahahahaahhaahhahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!”

“Sam?” Alyssa started to grow worried.

“That’s right. I’m weird! I’m crazy! Why wouldn’t I be?! No normal person would cut their own hair in defiance! No, of course not! Why would that be normal?!” Sam began sobbing uncontrollably. “No normal person would use those same scissors they used on their hair on their arms!! No, I must be weird!! I must be crazy!!! That’s all anyone has ever thought of me!!!! Why else would I climb this godforsaken mountain?!?! Why else would I slit my own throat?!?! BECAUSE I’M CRAZY!!!! THAT’S WHY!!!! HA. HAHA. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!” Sam’s eyes became a void, as well as their mouth. A dark liquid spewed from their voided features, as they covered their face with their hands. A thin line of the same void color appeared across their neck. Sam kept laughing, and laughing. The others watch in horror, before their vision was obscured by darkness. An image appeared. An image of Sam.

The image in front of them looked similar to the Sam they saw, but their hair was longer, and they were wearing a dress. The image faded away, to a different one of Sam looking in the mirror. They grabbed a pair of scissors nearby, and shortened the locks of hair. Another image appeared, of Sam being mocked, of them being slapped and them breaking out into tears. 

“They said they’d always love me… But that was a lie. A filthy lie. They didn’t love me. They loved the illusion of me. The false me…” Sam let out a ragged breath, as the next few images flowed in quick succession. From their self harm, to their climb, to their quick journey through the Ruins and Snowdin, to a garbage filled cave, ending in a still image of Sam holding a knife in their hand, still surrounded by the heaps of unwanted items. “The dump was perfect. Filled with junk no one wanted. A perfect place for someone who was unwanted by their own family.” 

The five fallen children returned to the real world, where it seemed no time passed at all. They all looked to Sam, who was curled up on the floor.

“Why!? Why was I unwanted…?” Sam buried their face into their knees. “Perseverance. That’s my virtue. That’s my SOUL. To persist in doing something despite any difficulty.”

“Sam…” Alyssa muttered.

“Such a lie. Why would that describe me? When I couldn’t even persist living on the surface?” They finally lifted their face from the floor, revealing that it went to normal, but even more see through. “Why give me something… That describes the opposite of what I did?...”

“Sam, you…” Clover was at a loss for words.

“Bringing me back is pointless…” Sam was fading faster. “Why should he waste his time…?” 

“Sam please calm down!!” Luke cried.

_“You know… I always wanted to be a writer… Hehe.”_ ** _s u c h a s i l l y d r e a m_** Sam faded away.

“Sam?” Cass called out. Tears began filling her eyes. “SAM?!?!”

**_B U T N O B O D Y C A M E_ **

Everyone looked at where Sam was, just mere seconds ago. Clover walked up to the spot, and lowered their hat over their eyes.

“What the fuck just happened?”

* * *

“Chara? Are you ok?” Frisk asked. Chara was looking out into the open, clutching the area of his shirt where his heart is.

“Something feels off…” Chara muttered.

“Like what?”

“I’m not sure. It just… feels like I lost someone…”

Frisk walked over to Chara, and pulled him into a hug. He lazily accepted it, still unsure of what’s making him feel like that. The two parted and walked over to the SAVE point. They gripped the star.

**_An unknown sense of dread and despair washes over you, but you fight it down, clinging to your HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *oh dear... This was a surprise. But not an unexpected one. They'll return to their senses. They just need reassurance. As long as Frisk and Chara stick to their current path, Sam-No-All the fallen children will saved from their nightmares...
> 
> (only chapter for today. I had to re-write it a bunch, and I still need to figure out how to describe the next few areas. sorry about the depressing end.)


	17. Chapter 3: WATERFALL-3

The second time around, the two had decided to pay more attention to where the spears were coming from as they were running. It seemed that the spears had a locked on course, so they used that to their advantage and moved in the opposite direction to avoid the spears. They ran, dodged, and ran some more until they were running in a straight line and into more of that tall grass.

Once hidden by the grass, Chara grabbed Frisk and the two sat still in the grass, hoping Undyne would pass by without noticing. The sound of armored footsteps didn’t really help their confidence. Undyne was towering above them, but when she had reached into the grass, she had grabbed Monster Kid instead. The two once again didn’t even notice him. Undyne looked at the young monster, and then awkwardly set them down, before walking away in the opposite direction. When they knew she was gone, the two emerged from the other side of the grass, with an excited Monster Kid right behind them. “Yo… did you guys see that?! Undyne just… Touched me!!”

“Congratulations.” Chara deadpanned.

Monster Kid squealed. “I’m never washing my face again!”

“That’s pretty unhealthy…” Frisk muttered.

“Man, you guys were unlucky." Monster Kid proclaimed, with a hint of smugness. "If either of you were standing just a LITTLE bit to the left…”

“There’ll be other opportunities!” Chara said with a smile.

“Yeah!!” Monster Kid ran off, tripped, and then got back up like nothing happened.

“There’s no way someone is that clueless…” Frisk pointed out.

Chara shrugged. “They’ll find out eventually.” 

“I guess.” Frisk sighed.

They followed Monster Kid and found themselves near another SAVE point. They quickly SAVED, making it a point to SAVE often after what had happened, and realizing that the last time they SAVED before that was somewhere near Snowdin before the Papyrus battle, and they didn’t feel like going through that again, even if Chara was upset that they didn’t get to see the special attack in full action. Frisk wondered why, but when she asked, he just replied with ‘Gaster Blasters are badass.’

Frisk looked over at the mouse hole in the wall. “Come on out little mousey. I can put the cheese in front of your door…”

“It’d need a pickaxe to get it.” Chara chuckled.

“Ok, fair point.” Frisk walked away from the mouse hole. The duo walked down the corridor, before a chill was shot down their spines. They looked over at the wall, spotting an eerie, dilapitated grey door. “Was that always there?” Frisk asked.

“Nope. This is new.” Chara walked up to the door, and reached out to the handle, only to pull his hand back at the door opening itself. “T-that’s… I-I don’t l-like this…”

Frisk walked up to the open door, and started to step foot inside. Chara grabbed her by the shoulders. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???”

“I’m not sure, but I feel like we should at least investigate.” Frisk shrugged.

“Stop acting like a white college student in a horror movie! You don’t know what’s in-” Chara froze when he felt an unfamiliar breeze. The two humans looked around, and found that they were in the middle of a path, the same color as the door. “What the?” Chara knelt down and felt the ground, recoiling at the feel of the grey grass. 

“Chara? Frisk?” The two humans froze, and looked to where the voice came from, which were just up ahead. They saw five other humans staring back at them. Chara was dumbstruck, while Frisk was just plain confused. While Chara focused on the other humans, she looked around at the pillars, seeing the same symbol on them as on Chara's shirt.

“You… But…. How?” Chara couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

**_*This was my doing. I felt as though you guys needed a way to communicate, since there are things you need to know from them._ **

Everyone looked around but couldn’t find the voice. “This is weird…” Frisk commented.

“But it’s a good weird. I was worried we’d have to call Papyrus if we wanted to talk to these guys.” Chara sighed.

“I wouldn’t mind that!” Alex replied, running up to Chara, who dodged the younger kids tackle. “Aw man!”

“So, what’s been up with you guys?” Frisk asked.

“Oh you know, being dead and following you two around as ghosts.” Clover said smugly. “‘Tis a simple life.”

“I can imagine.” Chara deadpanned.

“Hey, at least we get a chance for proper communication! As long as we keep both of you away from Alyssa during this entire thing!” Luke declared.

“Hey!!” Alyssa cried out.

“We don’t need you to weird them out with your questions.” Clover shot a glare at the ballerina.

Alyssa grumbled. Chara looked around the room, raising an eyebrow. “Where’s Sam?” The five fallen children all gained a look that expressed fear and sadness. Everyone shifted around uncomfortably, and Cass had begun to cry. “What happened?”

“We’re not sure.” Luke replied.

“It happened so fast…” Cass said with a strained voice.

“Ever since we entered Waterfall, They were acting strange.” Alex mentioned.

“We tried to confront them, but…” Alyssa paused. “I think I might’ve struck a nerve.”

“What did you do?” Frisk tilted her head.

“Well… It happened after Chara died.” Clover began. “All of us felt that pain as if we were the ones who got speared.”

Alyssa sighed. “Sam was oddly calm, and I tried to confront them on why they were acting so weird when it came to Waterfall…” 

“After she said Sam was being weird, they just snapped.” Luke rubbed the back of his head.

“They’re face got all goopy and void like, and then…” Alex rubbed his eyes. “We could see moments of their life, reasons why they went to the mountain…”

“They faded away…” Cass said abruptly. “Right in front of us… It was so scary!”

Frisk approached Cass and pulled her into a hug, Chara looked at the floor, unsure of what to make of this. “Then that feeling I had earlier…” 

“Yep.” Luke fiddled with his frying pan.

“Will that complicate things? If they faded, will that compromise my SOUL? What happens if you all fade?” Chara was starting to get existential.

**_*Not to worry, your SOUL remains safe, even if they all fade._ **

“Is there a way to avoid them fading away?” Frisk asked.

**_*They simply must not think the opposite of their SOULS. Sam started becoming nihilistic during your trip into Waterfall. Even if they tried to hide it, all it takes is a small reminder to bring about a fountain of emotions… Now I recommend saying your goodbyes for now. This meeting cannot last longer._ **

“Well, I guess we wasted that chance, huh?” Chara shrugged.

“It was nice while it lasted.” Cass said, still clinging to Frisk.

“Yeah. It was.” Frisk replied.

“We had enough time to bring you up to speed. I think that counts for something!” Clover spun their gun. (hey that rhymed!)

“Good luck on the rest of your journey!” Luke gave Chara a hug.

“Oh, you’ll find my ballet shoes tucked away in some tall grass in the next area!”

“Can you be more specific?” Frisk asked.

“I’m really bad at giving directions so I’m afraid not, but I can give you advice.” Aylssa began whispering something into Frisk’s ear, while Chara gave Cass a hug.

“Make sure Alex stays out of trouble.” Chara said.

“Wait, how can I cause trouble if I’m a ghost?!”

“You’ll find a way eventually.” Clover patted Alex’s head.

**_*And now, back to the schedule._ **

* * *

Before they knew it, Frisk and Chara were back at the corridor, as if nothing had happened. Chara clutched his chest, while Frisk rubbed her arm sheepishly. They looked back to where the door would've been, but all that remained was a strange marking in the same shape. The two stared at the marking in silence.

“What did Alyssa talk to you about?” Chara finally broke the silence.

“Um…” Frisk gained a small blush.

Chara noticed the faint dust of pink on Frisk’s cheeks, but had decided to shrug it off. “If you’re feeling embarrassed about it, then you don’t have to tell me.” Chara began moving forward, while Frisk hung back a bit. The two exited the corridor, and spotted Sans next to a telescope.

“oh, hey you two. i’ve been thinking of going into the telescope business.” Sans gestured to the telescope to his right. “it’s usually 50000G to use this premium telescope…”

“Now that’s just absurd.” Frisk folded her arms.

“you didn’t let me finish. since i know you two, you can use it for free.” 

“Actually, that reminds me, how much G do we have?” Chara reached into his pockets and began counting his coins, while Frisk decided to partake in the usage of the telescope. “I have about… 99G. What about you Frisk?” 

“Let me check.” Frisk removed her eye from the lens and pulled out her coins to count.

Chara took a quick glance at Frisk and sighed. “For god’s sake Sans…”

Sans grinned widely, and failed to contain his laughter. “hey, you should’ve seen it coming.”

“What’s up?” Frisk looked at the two, and Chara made a motion towards the water. Frisk put away her coins, and looked into the water, to see that her left eye was marked with some kind of pink circle over it. "…God… Damn it…” She took some water in her hands and washed off the mark. When she was done, she gave Sans a threatening glare.

“what? not satisfied? don’t worry, i’ll give you a full refund.” Sans winked.

“You’re awful Sans.” Chara said flatly. Sans shrugged.

Frisk recounted her coins and came up to 50G, which meant that altogether, they had 149G. “Hmm… We need to get more somehow.” Frisk muttered.

“We’ll figure out a way.” Chara replied. The two were walking down the path, and came across two Echo Flowers. Chara cautiously approached one. ' _So, don’t you have any wishes to make?'_ Chara walked over to the other one. _'... Hmm, just one, but…'_

“Hey Chara, do you see any nearby patches of long grass?” Frisk was looking for the Ballet Shoes.

“Yeah, I think there’s a patch just along this path here.” Chara took Frisk along the straight line, passing by a couple of Moldsmals. They approached the patch of grass and searched through it. When they found the shoes, Frisk had tied them to her belt. Chara made his way back to the main path but Frisk had noticed a lone Echo Flower sitting near the patch of grass. She turned away from it and met up with Chara. The duo continued down the path, passing nearby a fish monster trying to keep themselves dry for some reason, when their phone rang.

_“HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!!!”_

Chara rolled his eyes playfully and smiled. “Hey Papyrus, what’s up?”

_“REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED ABOUT CLOTHES?”_

“Oh yeah, we took off the articles after the phone call.” Chara explained.

_“AH, YOU GUYS ARE SUCH SMART COOKIES. I TOLD HER YOU WERE STILL WEARING THEM, BECAUSE I KNEW YOU’D DO THAT!! NYEH HEH HEH!!! BEING FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE IS EASY!!”_ The humans couldn't see it, but they got the impression that Papyrus was posing.

Chara chuckled. “Seems like it.”

_“OKAY, I’LL LET YOU GUYS GET BACK TO YOUR WALK! I HOPE SAM TOOK THE TIME TO CONSIDER THEIR RUDENESS EARLIER.”_

“Um… Yeah, I hope so too… Bye Papyrus…”

_“GOODBYE!”_ Papyrus hung up.

Chara sighed. “Oh man, I forgot about Papyrus. What’s he going to say when he notices?”

“Hopefully he’ll be able to understand… Somewhat…” Frisk rubbed her arm.

Chara focused his gaze to the floor, and then sighed. “Let’s… Let’s continue.”

Frisk nodded. “Yeah.” The two continued down the path, causing an Aaron to flex out of the room and taking the 30G he dropped, and listened to another Echo Flower, which was a continuation of the previous one. _'Don’t say that! Come on, I won’t laugh!'_ Chara looked at the Flower with a solemn expression, before pushing on. They passed by a sign, which barely read out the directions for a bug catching spot, and they spotted a monster that looked like the orange horned monster from Snowdin, but blue. Literally and emotionally. Passing by them, the two found the path ended in a dead end, with small patches of grass along the path, leading up to a giant filed of tall grass.

"Huh..." Frisk looked around. "This is a dead end..."

Chara smirked. "It looks like a dead end, but..." He went into the field of grass. Frisk raised an eyebrow as she heard Chara rustling within. She contemplated if she wanted to take a step forward, but that line of thought was broken by Chara emerging from the grass, holding a bridge seed. "Ta-da!" He held the seed up like a trophy.

Frisk went wide eyed. "Oh, so then those other patches also have..." She rushed to the nearest patch of grass, and searched through it. Sure enough, there was a bridge seed. She groaned as she picked it up. "There's not even a hint in this room pointing them out!"

Chara shrugged. "Sometimes puzzles don't give you clues." Frisk stuck her tongue out and he laughed. The duo let the seeds down in the water nearby a cavern and then grabbed the remaining two, finishing the bridge and allowing them to get across. The next room held nothing special, but a couple of broken railroad tracks, and the room afterwards was home to a green monster next to a bowl of rocks. Safe to say, they continued on pretty quickly, ignoring the monster all together. The room afterwards was mainly water, with the sight of railroads across the water, but the two stuck to the path, resulting in an encounter with a monster that rose from the bottom.

"Hey, there. noticed you were, here!" The monster spoke, waving a tentacle at them.

"Hi." Frisk waved back. "We weren't disturbing you, were we?"

The monster shook it's head. "You two are all good." The monster pointed to itself with a smile. "I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!"

Chara chuckled. "nice to meet you Onionsan." The humans began walking down the path, with Onionsan following them from the water.

"Nice to meet ya too!" Onionsan replied. "you're visiting Waterfall, huh! It's great here, huh! You love it, huh!" Chara was getting a bit nervous at the monsters level of excitement, but Frisk smiled and nodded. Onionsan beamed. "Yeah! Me too! It's my big favorite."

"That's nice to hear." Frisk replied.

"Yeah, even though, the water's getting pretty shallow here..." Onionsan semi-hid themselves in the water. "I...Have to sit down all the time now..."

"Oh..." Frisk stopped in her tracks and faced Onionsan. "Sorry to hear that."

Onionsan re-emerged from the water and waved it off. "Hey, it's ok! It beats moving to the city into a crowded aquarium... _Like all my friends did..."_ Onionsan submerged themselves again. "And the aquarium's full, a-anyway, so, even if I wanted too, I..." Onionsan's eyes began to water. Chara and Frisk exchanged a glance. They turned to Onionsan to speak, but the monster re-emerged again and put on a smile. "That's okay though, y'hear! Undyne's gonna fix everything, y'hear!" Onionsan chuckled. "I'm gonna get outta here and live in the ocean, y'hear!!" The humans exchanged a look, and resumed their trek. After a minute of walking, they reached the end, as pointed out by Onionsan. They greeted the monster goodbye, and entered the next room. Frisk sighed and sat against the wall.

"These poor monsters..." She muttered. "All this time..."

Chara sat down next to Frisk and sighed. "I know...It's awful..."

"That doesn't even begin to describe it..." Frisk buried her faced in her arms, and Chara was left wondering what to do.

"Frisk-" Suddenly, the world turned grey, and the two entered a fight. “Who?” Chara looked at the enemy, which was a teal fish with sea blue hair, floating above what looked to be some kind of worm. They looked like they were trying to hide. “Oh, hello.” Chara waved at them. The monster let out a small tune in response, which was pretty scratchy and loud. Chara covered his ears. _“Kind of tone deaf…”_

The monster cowered a little bit more after that. Frisk motioned Chara over to her. _“Maybe we can help her!”_ She whispered.

Chara raised a brow. _“How so?”_

Frisk rolled her eyes and gestured towards the monster. _“She could follow along to our own little tunes!”_

_“I-I don’t know about that for me…”_ Chara rubbed his arm nervously.

Frisk tilted her head and raised a brow. _“What’s wrong? You have a good singing voice.”_

_“I’m not worried I suck… I just… Never sang in front of other people other than Az, Mom or Dad…”_

_“You didn’t mind singing that lullaby to me.”_ Frisk pointed out.

_“Well that was… That was different."_ Chara retorted. _"You were having a bad night, and I didn’t want to just do nothing…”_

_“Look, it won’t be so bad. Just… Imagine you’re with your family. That might help.”_

_“Might…?”_ chara raised a brow.

“Just trust me on this…” Frisk gave a patient smile.

Chara looked around the room, as if to reassure that no one else would be there, and then sighed. “Alright, I trust you…” Chara closed his eyes, and imagined he was back at the throne room of the capital, with Asgore, Toriel and Asriel sitting at the garden nearby, with a table holding a large pie and several cups full of tea. He smiled at the image and started with a melodic hum, before taking a deep breath.

_~Walk through a valley in the deep Underground_

_And you'll see a field of blue flowers always waiting to be found_

_Their luminescence will waver throughout every path_

_And they'll guide you through Waterfall, voices shielded by cyan masks_

The monster showed it’s face to the tune, and began following the melody. Frisk couldn’t help join in. Soon, the three stood in the room, singing a bittersweet song.

_Echo, echo, do you hear a voice, no?_

_Nothing’s speaking, maybe cause they’re sleeping_

_Bounding around, carefree in the wind now_

_Hard to let go, but you’re never alone_

A few monsters were attracted to the song, and the room became filled with them. Frisk risked a glance at Chara, who still had his eyes closed. She took a look out into the crowd of monsters, and spotted Sans selling tickets made of toilet paper. _Oh god, there wasn’t supposed to be a huge crowd! It’s like a concert now!_ Frisk kept a calm face, but inside she was freaking out. _Chara, please keep your eyes closed!_

_If you’re not careful, your thoughts will remain there forever_

_Those plants will create a deviant of your voice whenever_

_So just keep quiet, your voice low and you will discover_

_Other monsters have secrets that you’ll hear wherever_

The crowd of monsters begin tossing clothing as if they were at a rock concert. It was a swarm of socks for some reason. Frisk was hoping the crowd would keep quiet, but they were cheering loudly, almost drowning out the melodic hum Chara broke into. _Ok, so this entire thing escalated far more quickly than I thought. Chara’s going to feel pressured and bail, and then he’ll never talk to me again. Good job, Frisk! You just ruined your friendship!_ Frisk was so engrossed in her humming, and thoughts, she didn’t notice Chara open his eyes and smile.

_Walk through a valley in the deep Underground_

_And you'll see a field of blue flowers always waiting to be found_

_Their luminescence will waver throughout every path_

_And they'll guide you through Waterfall, voices shielded by cyan masks_

_Echo, echo, do you hear a voice, no?_

_Nothing's speaking, maybe cause' they're sleeping_

_Bounding around, carefree in the wind now_

_Hard to let go, but you're never alone_

_Someone's calling, voices talking, hold onto your hope, it's falling_

_Sudden silence, no one saw this, cry for help and drown in blackness_

_Can you keep a secret, try me, cowardice and fears behind me_

_Left it buried, broken weightless, separated, loved and faithless_

Damn. That last verse sent chills down Frisk’s spine. The crowd seemed so engrossed by the song, but she couldn’t figure out why, other than that the song was about Waterfall and the Echo Flowers. Still, she had to admit, it was a nice, if bittersweet, song.

_Walk through a valley in the deep Underground_

_And you'll see a field of blue flowers always waiting to be found_

_Their luminescence will waver throughout every path_

_And they'll guide you through Waterfall, voices shielded by cyan masks~_

Chara finished off the song with a final round of melodic hums. He and the monster that accidentally initiated the fight seemed much more comfortable than they did when they started, and then there was Frisk, who had closed her eyes after the third verse or so. Chara grabbed Frisk by the hand and the two gave a bow, leaving Frisk even more confused. The fight ended, and Frisk looked at Chara sheepishly. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t think a crowd would appear! I’d thought they’d be quiet, but then it started turning into a concert, and I felt bad the entire time it was happening and I understand if your ma-” Frisk was cut off by Chara suddenly giving her a hug. That did not help ease her tension.

“That wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. Thank you.” Chara finally said.

Frisk was deeply confused. “You’re not… Mad?”

Chara let go of Frisk. “Nope! It was actually a lot of fun!”

Frisk chuckled nervously. “Still, I didn’t think a crowd would show up…”

“Yeah, that stuff happens.” Chara gave a smile. “Come on, if we stand around someone will try and get an autograph. I think we just made ourselves popular.”

“R-right.” Frisk released the tension in her shoulders and began to walk along the path, but stopped in front of a mural. Using her cheat sheet, she read it out. “‘The northern room hides a great treasure.’”

“That sounds useful. Let’s check it out!” Chara walked up into the room, which held a piano. He walked up to a nearby mural. “‘A haunting song echoes down the corridor, won’t you play along? Only the first 8 are fine.’ I don’t hear a song…”

“Aw man…” Frisk kicked a rock on the ground.

“It did seem a bit too convenient. Maybe someone already got the treasure.” The two exited the room, and made their way down the corridor, making sure to pick up any left over G from the monsters who left the room after the performance, and passing by more murals which spoke about the power of monster SOULS, but Chara didn’t need a reminder. Chara stopped in his tracks when he saw a broken statue, being drenched in rain from a hole in the ceiling.

Frisk turned to Chara and grew concerned. “Chara?”

“Something about this feels familiar.” Chara walked up to the statue. “I don’t know why though.”

Frisk reached out a hand towards Chara. “Do you, need a break or-”

“No. I’m good to keep going.” Chara moved on from the statue, and the two entered a room that had a basket of umbrella’s nearby. “Water tends to leak from the ceiling in the next room due to condensation from a lake on the surface, so it's a good thing we have these.” Chara took out an umbrella and opened it up. “Let’s go.”

“Wait…” Frisk took an umbrella and went back to the statue.

“Frisk, what are you doing?” Chara followed at a more leisurely pace. Frisk opened up the umbrella, and set it in place atop the statue. “I don’t think tha-” Chara stopped his thought when he heard a melody play from the statue. He dropped his umbrella, and just stood still, listening.

* * *

He sat up on the bed with all his strength, and opened up a box. When opened, a sweet, gentle melody played. Chara closed his eyes and listened to the tune, blocking out all the pain that resulted from eating the few Buttercups he did. The door to the room opened, and a young caprine monster made themselves known. “Hey, Az!” Chara said, in a hoarse, raspy voice.

“How’re you feeling Chara?” Asriel asked, setting up a chair next to Chara’s bed.

“Like a million bucks, why do you ask?” Chara replied sarcastically, breaking out into a small cough.

Asriel huffed. “How are you still able to joke in your state?” Asriel sat down. Chara shrugged.

“I should’ve expected that answer.” Asriel sighed. “I still don’t know why you decided on this method.”

Chara raised a brow. “What method?”

“The Buttercups!" Asriel cried out, like he just thought of an answer to a question from a week ago. "It’s just… Couldn’t have there been an easier way to do this?”

“Asriel…” Chara took a deep breath. “If I had used a method such as stabbing myself or jumping off from a great height, not only would it break Mom and Dad’s hearts even more, it would also make the humans on the surface more likely to attack on sight. If I look unharmed, they’ll be less wary, and more likely to think you meant no harm. That way it’s easier to get the SOULS required.” Chara broke out into a cough.

Asriel slumped in his seat. “I guess that makes sense. But all this still feels off…”

“No one’s stopping you from begging Gaster to heal me even faster. I know for a fact he has books on how to get rid of the sickness." Chara huffed and folded his arms. "He’s been very obviously holding back.” Asriel sat still for a moment, but when he opened his mouth to speak, a knock came at the door. Asriel went to open it, and was greeted by one of Gaster's assistants. Chara wasn’t sure what they were supposed to be, but their blue and yellow color scheme made him feel comfortable around them.

“Oh, hello your majesty! Gaster sent me to drop off some medicine for the human!” The monster came into the room and set down a glass of water and a small tablet. Chara took the medicine immediately, closed the music box, and laid back down in the bed. The monster left the room, and glanced at the prince. “Have a good day!”

Asriel made sure the monster was gone, before closing the door, and returning to his chair. He remained silent.

“I’m going to be still kicking for a while,” Chara muttered. “Plenty of time to reconsider…”

“No. I trust you on this…”

* * *

“Chara…?” Frisk asked, concerned.

“Y’know, maybe I’ll take you up on that break…” Chara sat near the wall across from the statue, with Frisk joining him soon after. The two sat, listening to the melody, letting nothing disturb them. Chara closed his eyes, and set his head on Frisk’s shoulder.

Frisk looked between Chara and the statue. “Do you... Recognize this?” Chara nodded. Frisk sighed and relaxed next to Chara. “It’s nice. Very peaceful.”

“I always loved this melody…” Chara muttered.

Frisk smiled. “I can see why… Makes me feel at home…”

“Mhm… I’m glad you're here Frisk…”

“I should be saying that to you. I doubt I’d even be this far into the underground without you. I’d probably still be at the Ruins.” Frisk chuckled.

Chara joined in with his own chuckle. “Fair point. We’re partners after all!” Frisk grinned at the sound of that. The two sat in silence afterwards, enjoying the sound of the music.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song lyrics came from this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1iHMHvh2dE  
> Which is a cover of this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjkHi7lEh9c
> 
> I just had the cover on repeat while writing most of the stuff in these chapters, so it felt appropriate. 
> 
> (Yes I fully believe Toriel and Asgore would ask Gaster to try and help save Chara from his sickness. He's a goddamn scientist, so why wouldn't they ask for his help?!)


	18. Chapter 3: WATERFALL-4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dear god this one took awhile...

_“HUH? I DIDN’T THINK TOBY WAS CAPABLE OF THAT…”_ Papyrus said from the phone, with a defeated, yet surprised tone of voice.

“I’m surprised he ended up in our inventory. I mean, we don’t even have backpacks!” Chara started scratching his head. “Just what exactly is that dog’s deal?”

_“I PERSONALLY LEARNED TO NOT QUESTION IT. TOBY’S A FREE SPIRIT, SO HE TENDS TO DO WEIRD THINGS AT TIMES. ONE TIME, HE CAME BACK HOME, AND HE HAD AT LEAST FIVE ITEMS THAT CAME FROM THE DUMP. STILL NOT SURE HOW HE GOT THERE.”_ Papyrus replied, with the sound of metal clanking against more metal in the background.

Chara and Frisk exchanged a glance. “Sounds… complicated.”

_“YEP. ANYWAY, I HOPE THE REST OF YOUR TRIP GOES WELL!!”_ Papyrus hung up.

“Sounds like there was no answer for Toby?” Frisk asked.

“Nope. Such a strange dog.” Chara put the phone away and picked up the umbrella. “Let’s get going.” The two walked down the path, and Chara had opened the umbrella when they entered the ‘raining’ room. Frisk looked at the sky, and was still confused by the logic of how this room replicated rain, but then she remembered that they’re in a magic mountain.

“YO! You got an umbrella?!” Monster Kid called out when they saw the two. The humans looked at the monster who was taking cover in a small indent which was spared from the downpour.

“Yep! There’s room for one more!” Chara offered.

“Awesome!” Monster Kid got under the safety of the umbrella. “Let’s go!” The trio began making their way down the road.

“Y’know, I don’t think we ever got your name.” Frisk said to Monster Kid.

Monster Kid chuckled. “You can just call me MK!” The three made a right turn, with MK practically bouncing up and down the whole time. “Man, Undyne in sooooooo cool. She beats up bad guys and never loses! If I was human, I would wet the bed every night knowing she was going to beat me up! Ha ha.”

“I wonder when we’ll get to see her in action…” Chara muttered.

“Hopefully soon!” Mk replied enthusiastically.

“Hopefully…” Frisk echoed, before stopping in her tracks.

“What’s up?” Chara looked where Frisk was and saw a lone Echo Flower atop the cavern wall. MK noticed the flower too, and stood on their toes to see it up closer.

“This one time, we had a school project where we had to take care of a flower." Mk started, having been reminded of the project by the flower. "The king-we had to call him ‘Mr. Dreemurr’-volunteered to donate his own flowers. He ended up coming to school and teaching the class about responsibility and stuff, and that got me thinking-”

“About how cool it would be if Undyne showed up to school?” Chara hazard a guess.

“Yo, it’s like you read my mind!" MK began bouncing with joy. "Yeah, just imagine how cool that would be! She could beat up ALL the teachers!”

“Are any of them bad?” Frisk asked.

“Well, some like to give out extra work, but I guess that doesn’t really count as bad…” MK was deep in thought. “Okay, yeah, maybe she wouldn’t beat up the teachers, she’s too cool to ever beat up an innocent person!”

Chara gave a little chuckle as the three began moving again. “I’m guessing you're planning on trying to join the guard when you’re older?”

“I mean, it sounds nice, but fighting could be kinda hard. Especially without hands.” MK shrugged.

“You have your feet and tail! They could work just as well!” Frisk reassured.

Mk hummed in thought. “You got a point…” It was Chara's turn to stop, as the trio looked out towards the giant castle in the distance, illuminated by the crystals in the cavern ceiling. Chara stared at the castle solemnly, Mk stared out in awe, while Frisk just sighed.

“I wish I had glasses…”

“That sounds rough… Why haven’t you got a pair?” MK asked innocently.

“Reasons…” Frisk left it at that, and began walking down the path again.

MK tilted their head, and looked on confused. “Did I say something wrong?” 

“It’s not you. She just has a rough home life…” Chara replied vaguely.

“Oh…" MK shifted uncomfortably, but then put on a smile. "Well, that won’t last forever! Undyne will be sure of it!”

“Yeah…” Everyone stopped when they realized they hit a dead end. Chara saw another umbrella bucket and put the umbrella away, while Frisk and MK looked at the wall.

“Is there another way?” Frisk asked.

“Maybe, but I can help you guys up there!” MK offered.

Frisk looked at the monster with a raised brow. “You will?”

“Of course!! Here, climb on my shoulders!” MK knelt down as Frisk carefully climbed on their shoulders. After a few seconds of trying to make sure she didn't hurt the monster, Frisk grabbed onto the ledge of the wall, and climbed up it. 

“Your turn, Chara!” Frisk held out a hand, and Chara took it as Frisk hoisted him up. The two looked down at Mk who was stretching after boosting Frisk up.

“What about you MK?” Chara asked.

“I’ll find another way! I always do!” Mk ran off.

“Tough kid.” Chara said with a smile.

Frisk chuckled. “They are, aren’t they? Same could probably be said for us.” They chuckled at Frisk's proclamation and followed the path, spotting a SAVE point. Good, it’s been a while since the last one. They brought their hands to the star as a voice rung out in their ears.

**_The serene sound of a distant music box fills you with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

Further down the path, the two find themselves walking along a wooden path, when suddenly, a turquoise glow appeared in front of them, and then around them. After a second or two, spears shot out from the glowing spots. Frisk gripped Chara's arm in fear. “Looks like she found us!” 

“RUN!” Chara grabbed Frisk by the hand and the two booked it. Unlike last time, they can tell when to stop or when to move out of the way. The real challenge was trying to figure out where to go. There were several ways to go, but almost each twist and turn was a dead end, leading off into a drop to where Undyne was stationed. During a few dead ends, the duo could see the armored warrior, staring up at them and following them menacingly, like an armored Jason. Eventually the duo found a wider, more open area, but the moment they entered it, the spears got more frequent.

“Are we almost out of here?!” Frisk asked, getting very scared and annoyed by the constant spears.

“No clue, but there should be a wa-” A ring of glow surrounded them, and Chara quickly jumped over them, but Frisk was a bit slower, and got struck in her leg by a spear. “Frisk!”

Frisk stood up a brushed the injury off. “I’m fine, let’s just go!” The two kept running down a new path, Frisk being slowed down from her injured leg. The pathway turned into a long straight line, which seemed to go on forever, which wasn't helped by the constant spears, the duo were met with another dead end. Frisk groaned at the sight of it.. “Who the hell designed this place?!”

“Let’s hurry and go ba-” Chara turned around to see the approaching Undyne, footsteps echoing throughout the caverns. “Oh no.”

“You two. Hand over your SOULS.” Undyne summoned a spear in her hand. “You don’t have the room to fight.”

“We don’t want to!” Frisk tried to reason. She cautiously took a few steps forward. “We’re just trying to get to the capital. We don’t mean any harm to anyone.”

“You two are humans, that’s more than enough!” Undyne threw the spear, and Frisk barely had enough time to dodge and the spear grazed against her side.

“FRISK!!” Chara ran up to Frisk and stopped her from falling. “You sonuva-!” Chara snapped his fingers, and a ring of glowing knives appeared from behind him.

“Well that’s new.” Undyne said casually.

[(BGM for Chara losing his shit at Undyne](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u35wwH4hAHE))

Chara threw a hand towards Undyne, and the knives flew at the armored warrior. Undyne blocked each knife with quick precision, even when Chara summoned knives behind her, she would block them all. Chara grabbed one of the spectral knives by the handle, before throwing more in her direction. While she was blocking the flying knives, he rushed towards her and swung the knife in his hand, to which she blocked, because of fucking course. Chara tried applying more force into his strike, hoping to break her spectral spear, only for Undyne to kick him in the gut, sending him back to Frisk’s side.

“If you want a fight, come find me.” A row of spears descended onto the bridge, breaking it. “If you survive, that is…”

The two humans were sent down into the abyss, and fell for what felt like forever, until they landed on the remains of the bridge below them with a hardy thud.

* * *

Chara stood by the kitchen counter, unphased by the verbal abuse his dad was spouting down at him for accidentally dropping a water glass. He must’ve been in a good mood today, since most of the time, he would go straight for a beatdown. Chara tuned him out though, he was getting real tired of this. So he just stood there, idly scratching at the bandage wrapped around his arm. 

_“Why can’t we just be a normal family…?”_ Chara whispered.

“What was that?!”

“WHY CAN’T WE JUST BE NORMAL FAMILY?!?!” Chara looked up at his dad and felt a twinge pride at the sight of the bastard’s shocked expression. His dad rubbed his eyes, and sighed a deep, long sigh. Chara was really in for it now, but his dad had made one mistake.

“Listen here you little shit, you want to know why we can’t be like the other families? For starters, we don’t have the money like the rest of them do-”

_“Who’s fault is that I wonder.”_ Chara didn’t really bother saying that too quietly.

“Don’t interrupt me when I’m talking!”

“Why not?! I already know how this lecture ends! The same as the rest!! So what’s it going to be, belt, fists, or are you so tired of me that you’re going to throw me into traffic?! WHICH IS IT?!”

“How about all the above, you ungrateful little-” Chara’s dad raised his hand in order to get the point across, when Chara reached behind him, and slashed his dad with a nearby knife. His dad clutched his torso, which was starting to bleed.

[(BGM of Chara having enough of his dad's bullshit](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1oiRcZQ4BE))

“Looks like you didn’t pay attention to where you had me!” Chara swiped at his dad again, hitting him in the eye. “Now. leave. Me. ALONE!!” Chara thrust the blade into his dad’s side, and then bolted out the door. He ran and ran and ran. Even when he was deep in the forest, and out of sight from anyone in town, he kept running. He spotted a nearby cave, and went inside, pausing to fully take into effect what he had just done.

“Did I actually just…? Did…? Did I kill him? What if I killed him?! The police will be looking high and low for me!!!” Chara curled up, and tried to breath. “But what if he lives? What then? Will he tell the cops I went crazy? Is he going to come after me himself?!” Chara fell to the floor, still curled up. “GAAAHHHH!! WHAT DID I JUST DO?!?! I just made my life 100x worse!!” Chara shot back up at the sound of raindrops and thunder. “It’s raining! IT’S RAINING!! He hates the rain, so he’ll be less likely to leave the house!! I have time, I can… I can hide out for longer! The rain will cover my tracks!” Chara stood up, and looked around his surroundings. The cave seemed like a good place to hide out, although the hole in the ground was a little daunting. He stepped to get a closer look at the drop, to make a mental note for later, when his foot got caught up on a vine, tripping him up, and sending him down the hole. He fell for what felt like a minute, before hitting the ground with a sickening thud.

“Mmm, ow…” Chara managed to mutter. He could feel a sharp pain in his leg, arm and head, the latter of which was leaking blood over his left eye, blocking out half his sight, which was growing more and more blurry by the second. “Is this… How I die?”

_“It sounds like it came from over here…”_

“Hello?...” Chara called out.

_“Oh! You’ve fallen down haven’t you? Are you okay?”_

“Please…”

“Here, let me help you up!” 

“Thank you…”

“Not a problem! What’s your name?”

“C-Chara…”

“Chara, huh? That’s a nice name! My name is-”

* * *

“ASRIEL!!!” Chara shot up, only to be met with instant pain. He could feel blood running down his face, and his leg felt like it had fought a rock. What made him concerned, was seeing his SOUL despite not being in a fight. The peach color was gone, and the true form was shown yet again. He looked up, but couldn’t tell how far they fell down. “That psychotic piece of- Wait, where’s-” Chara looked around, and spotted the person of interest. “FRISK!!” She was a few feet away from him, and looking very close to death. 

Chara forced himself up, ignoring the pain in his leg, and slowly made his way to Frisk, unaware of the golden petals clinging to his clothes. When he made it to Frisk, he moved her onto her back, and saw a red stain in the middle of her head. “Please don’t… I can’t do that again…” Chara wrapped one of her arms around his neck, and slowly picked her up. “There’s gotta be- A SAVE point!” Chara spotted one of the glowing stars just a ways away from where they were. He tried to move as fast as he could, which was still pretty slow due to a leg injury, an unconscious Frisk and all the water. He passed by a couple heaps of garbage, making a mental note of where they were, and slowly kept walking to the SAVE point. “Please work!” Chara muttered as he slowly lowered Frisk near the SAVE point, and helped her hand towards it. “Please, please work!!” He brought their hands to the star, and began praying that it would work.

**_Despite the hardship that had befallen you… You ensured both of you would never face that fate again. Your concern and admiration for the other’s safety and wellbeing fills you with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

Chara felt his leg get better and the blood stopped flowing from his head, but he kept an eye on Frisk, who was still unmoving for an uncomfortable amount of time. _Please! I-I need my partner! I need you Frisk! I-_

“Mmm, Chara?” Frisk suddenly said. “What happened?”

“FRISK!!” Chara pulled Frisk into a hug, tears flowing down his face, unaware of his soul regaining it's peach color. “You’re okay!! I got so worried!!”

Frisk was a little shocked by the sudden hug, but she accepted it anyway. “I’m alive! We lived!”

“Barely. I had to drag you here to save you!!” Chara said in between sobs. 

“I’m so-”

“Don’t! It’s not your fault, Frisk!” Chara took in a breath and tightened the hug. “I just got scared…”

“But, we’d been back at the previous save if either of us-”

“We’d have to go through that again! I don’t want to. It was chaos…”

“You have a point…” Frisk tightened the hug as well. “You got really mad at Undyne back there…”

“She hurt you. You tried showing mercy and she _attacked_ you, and almost _killed_ you. Like some kind of psychopath…” Chara replied. “Besides, we’re partners! I… I…”

“It’s okay now, Chara. We’re safe.” 

Chara took a deep breath. _“I love you Frisk…”_

Frisk made a small gasp, before tightening the hug even more. “I love you too…”

The two remained still, sitting by the SAVE point, wrapped in an embrace. After a few more minutes, they broke off the hug, and stood up. Chara sighed and wiped his hand on his jacket, covering it slightly in blood. “Well that’s just peachy…”

Frisk looked around. “We’re surrounded by water, maybe we could use this waterfall to-”

“This is the dump Frisk. The water’s not exactly the best to use.” Chara deadpanned.

Frisk raised her hands defensively. “Ok, well then what do we do?”

Chara tapped his chin. “If we can find a Woshua, we could ask it to clean us.”

Frisk raised a brow. “How the heck does that work?”

“It’ll send out green bullets, which are mainly used for healing, but Woshua’s are germaphobes, so for them, green bullets can also clean off any dirt or stains.”

“Oh! Sounds useful.”

“It is, which is why Mom and Dad had them wash our clothes.”

Frisk chuckled at that. “So shall we head off?”

“Of course!” Chara grabbed Frisk’s hand, and the two continued on into the dump. Really nothing worth noting. Just garbage, a beat up bike, an anime DVD case, a water cooler with some food, but neither of them felt hungry. They passed by a dummy, and saw the exit, before a presence made itself known. The two looked behind them, and the dummy was gone, only for it to appear in front of them.

“YOU!!! You really think you can just ignore me huh?!” The Dummy called out.

“We didn’t really have a reason to notice you.” Chara replied flatly.

“You didn’t really stand out.” Frisk added in the same matter.

“Still, I’m not letting you go that easily, not after your friends assault on my ears!!”

“What are y-” Chara’s face went from confused to unamused. “Ok, which one of them was it?”

“The blue one in the Tutu.” The Dummy replied calmly.

“Ok, yep. No, she did that because of us.” Frisk replied.

Chara looked to Frisk, very confused. “She did?”

“Well, remember back when Clover refused to let Alyssa near us when we went to that one weird room?”

It took Chara a few seconds, it finally clicked for him, causing his rosy cheeks to go a bit darker. “Oh...That makes a little more sense...”

Frisk nodded. "Yeah, it kinda does."

“I feel like we got off topic.” The Dummy finally interjected.

“Ah, right! So… Alyssa blew your eardrums out.” Chara reminded himself.

“Not just that. I’m a ghost that lives inside a dummy-”

“That was kinda obvious.” Frisk said.

“My cousin used to live inside a dummy too, UNTIL YOU CAME ALONG!!" The dummy paused, before shifting their eyes awkwardly. "I don’t have arms, but if I did, they’d be pointing to your friend here..”

“I feel like we need a better explanation.” Chara deadpanned.

“My cousin was living inside a dummy in the Ruins.” The dummy explained with boredom.

Chara's eyes widened. “The one she flirted with?” Pointing to Frisk all the while.

Frisk buried her face in her hands. “It was the first thing that came to mind!!”

“Actually now that I think about it, weren't flirting with me the first time we met?” Chara asked smugly.

“It was a friendly flirt.” Frisk replied, blushing.

Chara glared at Frisk. “That doesn’t make any sense…”

“Nothing in this place makes sense.” Frisk retorted.

Chara raised a finger to object, but then shrugged and sighed. "Fair point..."

The dummy fumed and glowed red. “WILL YOU STOP INTERRUPTING AND LET ME AVENGE MY COUSIN?!?!!?”

“You could’ve done that while we were talking.” Chara pointed out.

“Not to mention you could stop us anytime you wanted to.” Frisk added.

“OH FOR THE LOVE OF-DIE!!!” The Dummy initiated the fight, and a group of smaller, similar looking dummies shot up from different piles of trash and launched a hail of stuffing-like bullets, which were ridiculously easy to avoid, and have hit the main Dummy. “OW!!! WATCH WHERE YOU’RE AIMING YOUR MAGIC ATTACKS!!!” The Dummy paused as it realized what it did. “Forget I said anything about magic.”

“No.” Chara snapped his fingers to summon a ring of knives and Frisk flicked her wrist to summon her sword. The Dummy looked at them in shock, only to cackle madly.

“Well, I didn't expect that, but you know what?" The dummy paused as more smaller versions re-appeared from the heaps of garbage and once again released a hail of stuffing. The duo maneuvered past the first few barrages, with the final hail they managed to get to hit the main dummy, with Chara throwing in some knives within the stuffing. The dummy took each hit, each individual part flying out as a reaction, resulting in the dummy floating around randomly. "I like it! Finally, a real fight!" The dummy cackled. "And once it's over, I'll use your SOULS to cross through the barrier!"

"You and everyone else pal..." Frisk muttered, before another volley of stuffing bullets ambushed the two humans from their flanks. The duo dodged through them as best they could, with Chara stomping his foot on the ground, wrapping a select few of the smaller dummies within vines, taking full control of them as he aimed them at the larger dummy, stuffing flying everywhere.

"move around all you want, but we can still get you!" Chra threatened.

The dummy brushed the threat off with a roll of their button eyes. _"These dummies suck..._ It doesn't matter if my idea isn't original, but once I get past the barrier, I'll stand in the window of a fancy store!" The dummy planted themselves nearby the wall, as the smaller dummies shot at the humans from one direction, making it so they couldn't stay still. Chara snapped his fingers, causing the vine wrapped dummies to fire on the larger dummy, with a few ball of fire added to the mix. 

Frisk looked at her summoned sword, and withdrew it, sighing. _"Well, that just seems useless at the moment."_

Chara glanced at Frisk solemnly, before he went back to what the dummy said at looked at the attacker in confusion. "Wait, how does being standing in the window of a fancy store avenge your cousin?"

"I think the better question is, would that count as avenging his cousin?" Frisk spoke up.

"Huh?..." The dummy flew around wildly, humming in thought. "Um...Yeah, I guess that'll avenge my cousin..." The dummy shifted it's eyes away from the humans. _"What was their name again...?"_ A row of small dummies appeared from a pile of trash and glowed red, before launching themselves at the humans. Unfortunately for the dummies, they left a hole in their attack, leading the humans to slip through unharmed. They tried again from the other side, but failed again as another group tried to fire upon the humans, the bullets of course hitting the main dummy, because footwork. The main dummy growled and stopped in front of the humans. "HEY GUYS!!!" Every dummy that shot at the humans emerged from the garbage, looking towards the main dummy. "Dummies. Dummies! DUMMIES!!! Remember how I said NOT to shoot at me?" The dummy asked the smaller ones. "Well...FAILURES!!! YOU'RE ALL FIRED AND BEING REPLACED!!!" The smaller dummies all retreated back into the piles of garbage in shame.

Frisk leaned into Chara. _"What just happened?"_

_"No clue."_ Chara replied with just as much confusion as Frisk.

"Hahaha. "Hahaha! HAHAHA!! Now you two will see my true power; Relying on people that aren't GARBAGE!!" At that proclamation, the sound of machinery could be heard throughout the small cavern. Frisk and Chara looked around as the dummy cackled. "DUMMY BOTS!! MAGIC MISSILE!"

Chara looked to the dummy in surprise. "Magic, what now?" Behind the two humans, a row of robotized dummies lifted up from a head of trash, lifting up their heads to produce a miniature cannon, which shot out a missile shaped bullet. The duo tried to move to avoid them, but the missiles homed in on their position, closing in on the two. They ran to lead the missiles away, before a red dot in the center of each bullet was reduced to nothing, letting the missiles fly free and crash into the cavern wall. Frisk looked more worried while Chara wore a face of disappointment. "I should have guessed that was what they meant..."

"DUMMY BOTS!!! TRY AGAIN!!!" The head dummy cried out. The dummy bots reemerge, with a few extras and shoot out more missiles, two of which graze the two humans and detonate, causing some damage, but they were still able to avoid the rest by circling around. The hardest part for them was getting the missiles to hit the main dummy, but having the missiles hit the wall worked for them too. "DUMMY BOTS!!! YOU'RE...Awful???" 

Chara took out his bar of chocolate from the Ruins and broke it in half, giving the other half to Frisk. "Just in case."

Frisk smiled and took the other half of chocolate. "Thanks!"

"DUMMY BOTS!!" The main dummy called out. "FINAL ATTACK!!!" at the dummies signal, the old small dummies appear from the trash heaps and hurl themselves towards the humans, with a single dummy bot shooting a missile to keep the humans on their toes as they dodge the dummies flying towards them. They dodge the missile long enough that it hits the wall, but another dummy bot came out from a trash pile fired another missile which chases the two around without the flying dummies, but when the missile hit the wall, dummy bots appeared from all around the two humans, but Chara sighed and trapped them all up in vines, and Frisk walked around and sliced them all down with her sword.

"Are you done?" Chara tiredly asked. The dummy just stared at the scene as Frisk gave up and just let the remaining dummy bots be trapped in the vines.

_"N....No way. These guys were even WORSE than the other guys!"_ The dummy shook it's head in anger and stared the two humans down. "Who cares. Who cares! WHO CARES!! I DON'T NEED FRIENDS!" A rusty knife shot out from a nearby trash pile and to the dummies side. "I'VE GOT KNIVES!!!" The dummy hurled the knife at the two humans, both of whom quite literally just step away to one side. The dummy stared out at the scene and coughed. "I'm...Out of knives..."

Chara stared at the dummy awkwardly and then gestured to the failed knife attack. "clearly."

"You did better with the dummies and dummy bots." Frisk added.

The dummy sighed angrily. "IT DOESN'T MATTER!!! I CAN'T HURT YOU AND YOU CAN'T HURT ME!!! WE'LL BE STUCK FIGHTING!!! Forever. Forever! FOREVER!!!" The dummy began cackling madly, while Chara and Frisk exchanged a glance, wondering if they should just walk past their attacker, when the dummy began reacting to familiar tear-shaped bullets. The dummy looked confused as they reacted to the bullets. "Wh-what the heck?! Acid rain?!" They guessed, before huffing. "Ah forget it! I'm outta here." The dummy phased through the wall in anger. The humans stared at the wall, and then at each other.

"So..." Chara started. "That happened..."

"For some reason..." Frisk added. "By the way, weren't those-" Frisk pointed to the exit to the dump, where a familiar ghost drifted towards the two. 

"Oh...Sorry, I interrupted you guys, didn't I?" Napstablook said, downcast as usual.

Chara raised his hands in the air defensively. "Oh, no need to worry! If anything, you showed up just in time!"

Napstablook looked unsure. "I did...?" 

"Yeah, they were threatening to keep in a fight, and were threatening to kill us, so you actually helped!" Frisk reassured.

Napstablook hummed in thought. "Well, if I helped you guys out, then I guess it's ok then...Right?" They looked at the two humans, who smiled up at them, prompting a smile from the ghost themselves. "Heh, well, I guess I showed up at the right time." They turned to leave, before turning back to the humans. "Um...I'm going to head home, so if you guys want, feel free to 'come with.'" The humans were about to agree, when Napstablook began to look worried. "Ah, but, no pressure or anything...Just thought I'd offer. I understand if you're all busy."

Frisk quickly shook her head and smiled at the ghost. "No, we're not busy!"

"So we're free to 'come with.'" Chara added, getting Napstablook to smile in response.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, who attacks people trying to give mercy. Someone like that must be a real prick...
> 
> *Edit: Added proper Mad Dummy fight :)


	19. Chapter 3: WATERFALL-5

Everyone arrived at Napstablook's house and most were pretty surprised by how homely it felt, despite only having like, a computer, a TV and a fridge. Chara and Frisk were in the middle of telling their adventures and story to Napstablook, who listened intently, probably on means to not look or sound rude, so the five fallen children had been buying their time and looking around the house. “What are these boxes?” Alex asked, looking at a few lined up boxes on the floor.

“Oh, those are my favorite music CD’s.” Napstablook quickly said. “Feel free to play them… If you want…”

“Wait, I can touch these?” Alex then picked up one of the mixes. “Well, this is interesting!”

“You guys never tried before?” Napstablook asked.

“No.” Clover replied. “We, uh, never really thought about it.”

“In fact, we just acted like we were still alive, but we never tried to interact with objects.” Alyssa added.

Napstablook made a face like he had accidently insulted the ghostly humans. Chara and Frisk exchanged a worried glance. They couldn't see or hear the others, but they knew they were there, and whatever they said, it got Napstablook feeling bad. Before Chara or Frisk could say something, music filled the room. Napstablook looked over at the boxes. “Oh this one. Once you learn the lyrics, it’s not hard to sing along. _Ooo ooo oooo. Ooo ooo oooo. Oo oo ooo oo ooo.”_ Alex gave a smile and tried to follow along. Luke looked over to the fridge and looked inside. “Oh, are you hungry? I have a few ghost sandwiches I can give you guys…” Napstablook floated over to the fridge and opened it, holding out a plate with a few ghost sandwiches. “Do you guys want some?” Napstablook looked to Frisk and Chara.

“We have our own food. Besides, I don’t think we’ll be able to eat ghost sandwiches.” Frisk replied.

“We’ll be fine!” Chara reassured.

“The rest of us will be happy to have a sandwich!” Luke stated, taking one of the spectral sandwiches. The other children took a sandwich and everyone was sitting in a circle on the floor, munching on their food.

“So you like music?” Alyssa asked.

“Yep… I was making my own little mix when I heard the commotion.”

Alyssa flinched. “Sorry about that…”

“It’s fine… May I ask what happened?”

“Alyssa fangirled her lungs away when Frisk and Chara said they loved each other, and that upset that Mad Dummy in the dump.” Clover gave the rundown.

“Oh… Sorry about them. They haven't fully become corporeal yet, and they tend to take their frustration out on others.” Napstablook explained.

“That’s fine. Frisk and Chara summoned some magic weapons and at first it seemed like the dummy was scared, but afterwards, they started getting these smaller dummies to try and attack the two, but they kept dodging, so the bullets would hit the dummy!" Alex recapped excitedly.

Napstablook's oval, specter eyes widened. “Wow.”

Alex laughed “It was awesome!”

Clover gave a small chuckle at Alex, before noticing Cass had been quiet the whole time. “You okay Cass?”

Cass took a small bite from her sandwich, and looked at Napstablook. “Are we bothering you, Napstablook?”

Napstablook was taken aback, and was starting to look like they were being questioned by the guard. “Oh...Um...No, not really...”

“You just seem uncomfortable…” Cass curled up a bit.

“Oh….” Napstablook seemed dejected. 

“If we’re being a bother, we can leave!” Luke reassured.

“Oh no! None of you are being a bother!” Napstablook said. “In fact… How about this, after a nice meal, I like to lay down on the ground and feel like garbage. How about we all do that, and then we can get our thoughts together?”

“That sounds good!” Alyssa agreed.

“Let’s do it!” Alex beamed.

Everyone laid on the floor, looking up to the ceiling. Everything seemed normal, before the world around them seemed to turn into space. It was weird, but oddly relaxing. Everyone stayed still in their places, and remained silent, enjoying the sight. 

* * *

Afterwards, Chara and Frisk looked around the snail farm Napstablook’s family runs, located in a location appropriately named 'Blook Acres'. Napstablook floated nearby as they showed the two around. "Welcome to Blook Family Snail Farm..." The duo looked at Napstablook with confused expressions. "Yeah, I'm the only employee now..." Napstablook stopped in front of a pen full of snails, one that appeared to have sold it's shell house, indicated by it counting out some coins it had nearby, with a full grown one wearing a suit just staring at the ceiling, and another with a mustache and monacle. ****

"For some reason I can't help but wonder what they taste like..." Frisk muttered, unprompted.

"Ironically, they're pretty salty..." Chara replied. Frisk shot Chara a VERY befuddled look, to which Chara shrugged. "You already know the answer to why I know that." Frisk opened her mouth to speak, only to shrug as well, because Chara had a point.

"This place used to get a lot of business, but our main customer disappeared one day." Napstablook finished off. The humans felt a twinge of sadness, knowing who Napstablook would be talking about. "Now it's just some hairy guy that shows up once a month."

Chara let out a soft chuckle, and looked out to the snails in the farm. He sighed and turned to the exit. "This was nice, but me and Frisk need to get going." 

"Yeah, we need to get to the capital..." Frisk added.

Napstablook glanced at the two humans sadly, but then nodded. "Well...If you'd like, you two are free to come by whenever...But no pressure, or anything..."

"It's fine, Napstablook." Chara reassured the ghost. "We'd be happy to come by again!" The two gave the ghost heartwarming smiles, and waved them off. "See you again sometime!"

"Bye Blooky!" Frisk said as her and Chara made their way out from the Acres, unaware of the flinch the ghost made afterwards. The duo passed through the serene waters passed the dump and continued their trek towards the capital. "So what comes after Waterfall?" Frisk asked, trying to peel off her wet sweater sleeve off her arm.

"Next should be Hotland, which means we should prepare for the heat." Chara replied, taking off his jacket. He looked it over, and assessed all the holes, rips, and general wear and tear it had gained over the course for their trek, most of which he assumed was recently gained. "Hmm...This is gonna last long..." 

Frisk nodded and then looked over her own sweater. The article of clothing wasn't in the best condition when she first fell, and the trek through the Ruins, Snowdin, and most of Waterfall only served to wear it down even more. She sighed. "Well, I'll have to worry about getting rid of my sweater to save myself from the heat once it dries." She made a few demonstrative tugs on her sleeve, which revleaed the sweater to almost be glued to her skin.

Chara sighed and ran a hand across his face. "I was honestly hoping that wasn't going to happen..." He stopped where he was and looked at Frisk apologetically. "I was hoping that the only thing that get soaked here would be our pant legs and shoes."

Frisk giggled. "Well, somethings never go to plan." Chara smiled and took Frisk by the hand. The duo began to move again, when Chara quickly stopped and looked at a stone table hanging above a door.

"Huh..." He tilted his head. "According to this sign, this doorway is for a shop" He pointed at the entrance and the two exchanged a glance before walking inside. The shop was a crowded space, similar to an antique shop, with each counter showcasing one of the few items available, which was mainly Sea Tea, Crab Apples and several glowing crystals, ranging from a bright blue to a deep purple. Frisk was engrossed by the stones, while Chara looked around at the other available items. _Whoever runs this place must not care enough to block the entrance when they're away..._ Chara thought to himself, looking at the empty space which would occupy the seller. It was then he noticed two items that were vastly different from the rest. 

Frisk meanwhile, was able to peel her eyes away from the crystals and to the other items, the most intriguing to her were the Crab Apples. "I'm guessing they're called Crab Apples because they look like crabs?" Frisk chuckled at her joke, but started to get worried when Chara didn't respond. "Chara?" Chara turned to Frisk holding a pair of large, round glasses. He peers into the lenses, and stares at them with a quizzical look. Frisk walked over to Chara and looked at the glasses herself. "They look pretty clouded over..."

"Yeah, they've seen better days. I was thinking maybe they'd might help your eyesight but..." Chara sighed and looked off to the side.

Frisk chuckled and patted Chara's shoulder. "I'm not even sure of my prescription needed so I'd better not."

"But, they were paired with this notebook." Chara patted the book in question resting on the counter. "And...Well, I'm sure you could guess where I'm going with this."

"Just like with the other items, they belong to one of the fallen children." Frisk confirmed.

"specifically Sam. If the shopkeeper were here, I'd by them, but-"

"You lookin' for me?" A voice responded from the entrance, followed by a small cackle. The humans turned to see an elderly looking turtle, who promptly sets down a bag full of crystals. The monster soon walks up to the humans, only to lift up a small latch built into the counter, letting them get behind it. The monster then pulled out a chair and sat down, looking over the two humans. "Well I'll say, it's about time that jacket of yer's showed signs of wear and tear. Ya had that..." The turtle paused and scratched their chin. "I can't seem to remember..."

Chara stared at the turtle in awe, which slightly concerned Frisk. "Gerson...?" The turtle cackled afterwards.

"Glad to hear ya still remember this old monster!" Gerson reached down from behind the counter and pulled out a pipe, snapping his fingers to create a spark of fire magic to light it. "so, how ya been? After everything that happened, it sure is a treat to see ya again."

"Wait...You two know each other?" Frisk finally asked.

"This is Gerson Boom." Chara introduced the monster. "He was the captain of the guard when I first fell down. And honestly, this seems on par for him." He quickly focused his attention to Gerson. "no offense."

"None taken!" Gerson cheerfully replied. "I'd have said the same thing if our roles were switched!" The turtle cackled and sighed. "Even then I had an act for being...Well, me!"

"Does you being you have to do with the reason you're not freaking out over Chara being alive?" Frisk asked with a curious expression.

"Actually, now that you mention it, Sans is the only other person so far who hadn't freaked out over that fact..." Chara added, tapping his chin.

"Wahaha, well I certainly can't speak for the other person, but when you've lived as long as me, seen as much as me, you tend to get pretty numb to the unexpected." Gerson answered with a slight somber tone. "But let's not get too far into that, and get down to business, literally. Wahahaha!" Gerson tapped the notebook and pointed to the glasses Chara was still holding. "Long time ago, I met a human who was documenting monsters in the underground, but suddenly they died." Gerson sighed and the two humans looked at the two items solemnly. 

"So how'd you find these?" Frisk asked Gerson, resulting in the elderly monster pointing towards where they came from. 

"Found 'em in the dump. Knew who they belonged to, and figured they'd want someone to watch over their stuff." Gerson chuckled softly. "I'd be willing to hand 'em over to ya, since you seem fixated on 'em"

"Just like that?" Chara raised a brow. "You're just giving them to us?"

"Well ya can just see it as a welcome back gift from a friend." Gerson gave a heartwarming smile, but the two humans still weren't sure.

Frisk pulled out a small pouch she got from the Snowdin shopkeep, after seeing the two humans didn't have one, and counted out her coins inside. "I have about 150G. Since you're running a shop, it'd make sense to pay for the items."

Chara pulled out a pouch of his own. "And I have..." He counted out the coins inside. "around 230G."

Gerson scratched his chin and hummed in thought, before shifting in his seat. "Tell ya two what, gimme about..." He clicked his tongue as he thought of a price. "85G for the notebook and glasses together, and I'll give two each of the Sea Tea and Crab Apples. How's that sound?" Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance, before nodding in acceptance. Frisk handed 30G while Chara handed over 55G, and then promptly grabbed the items in question.

"Thank you." Frisk said, picking up a box of tea.

"Don't mention it. Besides, I saw Undyne a little while ago and...Well, she was looking fer a couple of people that matched your descriptions..." Gerson's words left a feeling of dread hanging over the two humans. "I'd be careful. Undyne made her way up the guard through sheer grit and determination, and I'm sure she'd hunt a couple of humans with them same traits." The duo exchanged a worried glance at each other, felt the dread seep deeper.

"Sounds like we might've bitten off more than we can chew..." Chara finally said.

"Definitely does..." Frisk responded.

Gerson sighed and leaned back in his seat. "I'd watch my back if I were you two. And one last piece of advice." The two turned to the turtle. "This may seem off-putting after what I just told ya, but if ya need quick money, or just need to get rid of any unnecessary items, I'd head on over to Tem Village." Gerson pointed a finger towards his left, on the path the duo needed to traverse. "That, and I'm sure the little plush monsters would be happy to see a human. Oddly enough, they're one of the only few monsters that can immediately tell if someone is a human..." Gerson scratched his chin. "Don't know how or why though."

"What can we expect at Tem Village, exactly?" Frisk ask. Chara went wide eyed, and then beamed.

"Oh this should be good..."

* * *

The 5 fallen humans follow Chara and Frisk as the former lead the latter towards the supposed Tem Village. Passing by a monster that definitely likes to spread gossip with they way they admired the Echo Flowers, which covered almost the entire surrounding area, divided off by two waterfalls, the resulting mist from their descent not helping with Frisk's sweater. Soon, the flowers were replaced with towering, glowing trees and fungi of varying sizes, the most prominent ones, a cluster of deep blue mushrooms, right in their path. Frisk looked around, and saw no other path. "Um...Chara...Where do we go now?"

"Seriously, the path just stops here..." Alyssa muttered, looking around. 

"The tree's are really pretty..." Cass assessed, looking up at the large, spruce like tree, that shined the brightest near the roots.

"Normally, it would seem like a dead end, but..." Chara walked up to the cluster, that reached up to his chest, and gave them a small touch. The cluster lit up in a brilliant shine, as bright as the wood of the tree's, with their nearly neon sky blue color. The grass below it reacted to the shine as well, with the same bioluminescent glow creeping up the small blades of grass repeatedly. Frisk gawked at the sight while Chara let out a sigh. "When you aren't getting chased by an slasher-esque knight or fighting a living dummy surrounded by literal garbage, Waterfall can be really beautiful..."

"Yeah..." Frisk muttered.

"He's got a point." Luke said to the other four. "I was able to see so many of those crystal's Gerson had, and many of them were almost the size of me!" He sighed. "This place has so many wonderful sights..."

"Too bad you don't get a chance to properly look at them, if you're a human..." Alyssa replied darkly.

The fallen stayed quiet afterwards, and just watched as Chara led Frisk down the path, which prompted another lightshow with another cluster, but when the path veered off to the left, Chara took Frisk's hand went down towards the right path, which led them down a dark corridor, and back into the light, in an...Interesting sight. Littered all over the place were some kind of plush monster, that seemed to look part cat, part dog, and almost all of them were for some reason vibrating. Frisk looked to Chara with a face that can only be described as a 'What the fu-' face, while Chara just chuckled. "So, what do you think of Tem Village?"

"Um..." Frisk looked back at all the monsters, who were just mindlessly wandering about in the cavern, with a giant statue of one standing by proudly. The two wandered further inside of the 'Village', while the residing monsters caught sight of the two, and began crowding them.

"AWAWAWAWAWAWA!!! Hoomans, sucha, coot!!!"

"hOI!! im temmie, and dis is ma friend temmie!!

hOI!! im also temmie, everybody tems!!

"except bob."

"isnt bob tem? tem did not go to cool leg to think hard!!"

"Hi. I'm Bob."

_"What on God's green earth...?"_ Clover whispered at the sight. Alyssa and Luke were just as confused, while Cass and Alex were wishing they could pick a Temmie up and squeeze it.

"They're so cute!" Cass squealed. "I want one!"

Alex wandered over to a lone Tem, which was staring intently at an egg. "Huh...I wonder what this one is doing..."

"So Frisk, any comments?" Chara asked with a shit eating grin. He picked a Temmie off from the ground and held it in his arms like a baby, which the Tem accepted without question. "Because I personally think they're rated Tem out of Tem." The Tem in his arms bapped Chara in the face.

"NOOO!! PuNZ are NoT COOT!!!" The Tem jumped out from his arms. Chara stared blankly before turning to Frisk, who looked like she was not having a good time.

"Frisk, are you okay?" He placed a hand on Frisk's shoulder. "You're tearing up."

Frisk rubbed her eyes and shook her head. She looked Chara in the eyes with her eyes turning puffy and red. "I have a slight cat allergy, and I think it applies to Temmies too..." At the declaration of Frisk's allergy, the Temmies all back away and started to look worried.

"oH NoES!! poor hooman cant be pet!!"

"but tem likes pet coot hooman!!"

A lone Tem slowly crept towards Frisk and pat the ground sympathetically. "it okay, tem understan. tem, also allergic to tem!" The moment Temmie finished talking, their plush face suddenly grew bright red spots. "HOIVES!!!" The Temmie ran off.

"Umm..." Chara rubbed the back of his head, before facepalming. "Great, now I feel like a jerk..."

Frisk quickly waved her hands, signaling Chara to stop. "Oh no, don't worry!! You didn't know!"

Chara sighed. "I'm still going to feel bad about it...But on the bright side, we have food, so when we're done you could just take a bite out of one of the Crab Apples, and you should be good."

Frisk raised a brow. "How do you know-" She quickly put a hand over her mouth and sighed. "I already know the answer to that..."

Chara chuckled and patted Frisk's shoulder. "One of these days, you'll get it."

Frisk rolled her eyes playfully. "So, where can we sell some of our old stuff?" A Temmie pointed to a hole in the wall with a giant sign above it, that only had an exclamation point.

"dat, Tem Shop!! get BEST DEAL!!" 

"Yaya, you shud chek out Tem Shop!!"

Frisk couldn't help but giggle at the Temmies, while Chara walked up to a nearby SAVE point, with a box placed just next to it. "Ok, so let's put anything we still need in the box, and only take in the stuff we want to sell." Chara suggested. Frisk nodded and the two assessed their items. All they really had worth probably selling were left over sticks and wrappers from their Nice Creams, some dog fluff courtesy of Toby, the two Monster Candies from the Ruins and Chara's jacket. The rest were essential for healing, or from the other fallen humans. "Looks like that's everything."

Frisk nodded and handed Chara whatever she was holding. "It's probably best if I hang back, to avoid more allergy-related complications."

Chara shrugged in response. "That's fine, it shouldn't take too long anyway." Chara walked away from the box and into the Tem Shop. Frisk scratched her arm, and then looked over her sweater, humming in thought.

* * *

"hOI! welcom to da TEM SHOP!!!" A Temmie from behind a cardboard box greeted Chara. Unlike the other Tems, which all had black hair and a dark blue shirt, this Tem had grey hair, and a stripe blue and yellow shirt. Chara glanced around inside the shop, which was as makeshift as one could get. On display, there was a bone, a stick and a glowing potion bottle. The walls were decorated with two different sized socks, and sitting on top of a few discarded boxes was a picture of...Toby, for some reason. "here at TEM SHOP is premium tem flakes!"

A nearby Tem looked up from a newspaper. "Yeah, we have armor, but can't really sell it right now, sorry." The Te-Bob went back to reading the paper.

Chara blinked a few times, before setting down his items on the floor, and taking off his jacket to set it with the others. "I heard you guys like to buy stuff so..."

The Temmie behind the cardboard box looked at the items and went wide eyed. "WOA!!! U gota, LOTSA items!" The Temmie's eyes started to shine, and they immediately took a hold of each item. "so many items! tem must have!!" The Temmie pulled out a pouch and set it on the table. "tem buy items for 134G!!"

Chara blinked again, and after finally processing the simplicity of it all, he grabbed the pouch and nodded. "Thank you." The Temmie just babbled something in response, but before Chara could leave, Frisk walked into the shop holding her folded up sweater. "Frisk? I thought you were going to wait..."

Frisk held her sweater in the air for a brief second. "Well, I figured since this was getting old, and that I wouldn't be needing it in Hotland, why not just sell it?"

Chara scratched his chin. "I mean, it's sound logic, but didn't you want to avoid triggering your allergy even more?"

"Well, it's like you said, I can just eat one of the Crab Apples or something, and I should be good." Frisk turned to the Temmie and presented the sweater, to which Temmie freaked out over. 

"WOA!!! u gota...Stripe Sweater!!" The Temmie started to look unsure, and began to sweat bullets. "hnnnnn! i gota have dat Stripe Sweater...but i gota pay for colleg," The two humans exchanged a glance, while Temmie started to vibrate. "hnnnn!!!! tem always wanna Stripe Sweater...!" The Temmie produced a pouch. "OK!!! TEM BUY Stripe Sweater for 286G!!!"

"Umm..." Frisk blinked a few times, before taking the pouch and handing over the sweater, which the Temmie swiped away instantly. "Thank...You...?" She leaned over to Chara. _"What the heck just happened?"_

_"No clue, be thankful though."_ Chara whispered back. The two waved the Temmies off and made their exit from the village, still very concerned about what they had just witnessed.

* * *

After leaving the Tem Village, and after Frisk ate a Crab Apple, the duo backtracked their way to the next area, which held giant glowing crystals in the outer edges of the path, and a lantern right next to the entrance. A couple of Moldsmals were passing by, with one slinking just further back from the others. "Hey, do you need some he-" The world went monochrome, as the Moldsmal suddenly increased in length, and stared the humans down with what looked to be an eye. Frisk jumped back and fell to the ground. She looked up at the monster. "Chara, what is this?!"

Chara helped Frisk up and then pulled her away from the cranky monster. "Moldsbygg. They like their space." The duo made some room for Moldsbygg to slink on past with no trouble. The monster gurgled in appreciation and left the room, dropping a pouch along the way, prompting the world to regain it's color. Well, prompting Chara and Frisk to regain their color. Frisk tried desperately to look for the pouch, but there was just darkness. 

"Chara, a little help?" Frisk sighed. Suddenly, almost like a light switch was flicked, the room brightened up again, and Frisk picked up the pouch. She turned to Chara with a bemused expression. "And the gimmick for this room is?"

Chara looked over to a nearby mural. "'Without candles or magic to guide them Home, the monsters used crystals to navigate.'" He then pointed to the lantern and a nearby crystal. "The crystals point you in the direction of the lantern, which light up the whole area." Chara tapped his foot on the lantern again to brighten up the room. "Honestly this part of Waterfall sucks, so let's make this quick."

"Sounds like a plan." Frisk nodded. Chara tapped the lantern again and the two descended down the path.

“If there’s any perks to being dead, we can see in the dark!” Luke said.

“And float!” Alex added. “Thank you Napstablook for letting us know that! This feels so much better!” 

“I’m afraid of heights, so no thank you.” Alyssa commented. The room itself was a bit of a pain all together. Chara took the lead, due to the amount of times he had traversed the room with Asriel, which led to Frisk becoming Chara's shadow as they moved along. Every little twist and turn was in it's own way, partially deceptive. Some of the paths held lanterns for them to brighten the room back up, but ultimately led nowhere, while the main path would eventually let the room go completely dark before the next lantern. Eventually, the two made it out of the room, but as they traversed the water of the next room, the brightness was still going down. The only thing that was visible was a distant blue glow.

“Is that an Echo Flower?” Frisk pointed to the glow in the distance.

“Yep! Let’s check it out!” Chara and Frisk walked towards the flower.

Cass glanced up at Clover who was looking around wildly. “Is something wrong Clover?”

Clover glanced down at Cass and sighed. “I feel like someone is following them.” 

“Yeah, us!” Alex joked, causing Clover to gently slap him out of the air.

Frisk and Chara approached the flower when Clover finally noticed the source of they’re feeling. “BEHIND YOU!!” Clover called out to Frisk and Chara.

“Clover that won’t-” The Echo Flower stirred. _'BEHIND YOU!!'_ The five fallen children stopped in their tracks.

Chara looked behind the two, and immediately stood in front of Frisk, summoning a knife in his hand. “Round 2!”

([Confrontation BGM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-BDiPtF834))

“What?” Frisk looked back, and saw Undyne. “Oh…”

“Seven… That’s how many human SOULS we need to break the barrier. Then, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr, will become a god.” Undyne summoned a spear. “But eight, will be much more interesting, and even if… Well, you two don’t need to worry about that.”

“Not happening, you psychopath!” Chara summoned three more, thinner knives and held them in his opposite hand.

“You don’t have a choice!” Undyne lowered her stance, ready to launch forward. The world flickered, a fight getting initiated.

“UNDYNE!!! I’LL HELP YOU FIGHT!!!” MK Sprung out from the nearby patch of grass. Undyne and the two humans just stared at MK, who looked back between the three. “YO!! You did it!! Undyne is right in front of you!! You’ve got front row seats to her fight!!!” Chara withdrew the knives, and began counting down on his fingers.

_“5...4...3...2…”_

“Wait… Whos’ she fighting?” MK asked. Undyne withdrew her spear, grabbed MK by the cheek and left the area. “You aren’t going to tell my parents about this, Are you!?”

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, before making their way out from the dead end. The new path was littered with Echo Flowers, and the two could hear the passing conversation. _'...Hmmm… If I say my wish… You promise you won’t laugh at me?' 'Of course I won’t laugh!' 'Someday, I’d like to climb this mountain we’re all buried under, standing under the sky, looking at the world all around… That’s my wish.' '...Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh!' 'Sorry, it’s just funny… That’s my wish too.'_

“Aww.” Frisk sighed at the conversation.

“They’ll see their wish. Someday…” Chara muttered.

_“Hehehe!”_

Chara and Frisk turned behind them, just in time to see a faint yellow retreat into the ground. They approached the area it was at, and looked at the Echo Flower. _'Where oh where could those children be?'_ Toriel’s voice rang from the flower. _'I’ve been looking all over for them…'_ _…_ _'T_ _HAT’S not true. She’ll find another kid, and forget all about you two!! You’ll NEVER see her again!'_ Flowey's laugh rang out from the flower. In a quick motion, Chara pulled out his dagger, and sliced the Echo Flower in half. “That little bastard… Using my Mom’s voice…”

“Don’t let him get to you.” Frisk rested a hand on Chara’s shoulder. “He’s trying to get you to his level…”

“Right… Right…” Chara sheathed the dagger. “Sorry…”

“It’s fine. I’d be angry too.” 

“Anyone would…” Chara muttered.

“So we need to prove him wrong!”

“Yeah… We do!” Chara gave Frisk a thankful smile. Frisk returned the smile, before giving Chara a small peck on the cheek, causing him to blush. “Let’s go!” The two left the room, and began crossing a thin, wooden bridge. There were a lot of things that needed to be improved, and this bridge was one of them. It wasn’t terribly thin, but thin enough that anyone could fall off easily. They reached the end of the bridge, and-

“Yo!!” They turned around to see MK approaching them. “Yo, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but…”

“Undyne told you we were humans?” Chara guessed.

“Yeah. She said ‘Stay away from those humans!’”

“We’re not dangerous!” Frisk reassured. “We’re just trying to get to the barrier.”

“Frisk’s right. We’re not going to hurt anyone.” 

“Still, I guess this makes us enemies…” MK said defeated.

“We don’t have to be! We can be friends!” Frisk said.

“That does sound nicer. I suck at being enemies with people.” MK chuckled.

“It’s easy when you put your mind to it.” Chara replied, before getting elbowed in the gut by Frisk. “I’m joking, I’m joking!”

MK laughed. “I should head home now.”

“That’s probably best. Your parents must be looking for you by now.” Frisk pointed out.

MK nodded. “Yeah, this whole ‘sneaking out to see Undyne’ thing didn’t turn out the way I planned. Good luck getting to wherever it is you two are headed!”

“Thanks!” The two said in sync.

Mk turned and made their exit, but their foot got caught in the spacing between the wood, making them trip, and almost fall completely off the bridge, their shirt getting caught on a nail. “AHHH, HELP!!!”

“MK!!!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should really draw the design's at some point... *walks away*
> 
> (Gerson strikes me as a person who wouldn't give a damn about seeing someone who was thought to be dead, turn out to be alive.)
> 
> *Spear of Justice begins playing quietly in the background
> 
> *Edit: Of all the chapters, this one was the hardest to edit for some reason


	20. Spear of Justice (part 1-2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Watch me try to make a compelling battle. KEY WORD: TRY

Frisk ran over to the dangling MK, getting their shirt off the hook, and trying to lift them back up onto the bridge. Unfortunately, Mk is a bit on the heavy side, which caused Frisk to start leaning over the bridge, trying not to lose her balance and fall down trying to save MK. Chara ran over to try and help Frisk, but gravity seemed to have it out for the three, as they nearly fell over the bridge. Chara looked around to try and spot a monster to try and help them, and was met with the telltale sounds of metal stomping on that ground. He looked to his right and spotted Undyne.

“HELP US!!” Chara shouted towards Undyne, who kept looking at the two humans, then at MK and then the humans again. With a final pull, Frisk was able to get Mk back up safely, the force of the pull knocked Chara back, so Frisk had to hurry and help him. MK used their tail to pull the humans back onto the bridge. Everyone was safe and sound.

“Oh. Oh thank god…” Clover let out a sigh of relief.

“That was scary…” Cass muttered.

At the sight of everyone safely on the bridge, Undyne began to advance towards the humans, but Frisk had shot up, looking very pissed. “WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!?!?” Frisk shouted. “WE WERE ALL IN DANGER AND YOU JUST STOOD THERE!!! WHAT IF WE HAD FELL DOWN!?!?!”

“I would’ve caught the kid.” Undyne replied, a bit too casual for MK's liking.

“Yo… These two are my friends! If we’re in trouble, we all deserve to be helped!” MK stood up for the two humans.

Undyne growled. “They attacked me, which means they won’t have trouble harming others.”

“YOU ATTACKED US FIRST!! I TRIED TO SOLVE THINGS PEACEFULLY AND YOU ALMOST **_KILLED_ ** ME!!!”

Undyne didn’t say anything. She just snarled and left. Chara pulled Frisk into a hug. “That was new for you.” Chara muttered.

“I guess I just needed to get that out of my system.” Frisk shrugged.

“Thanks for helping me you guys!” MK beamed.

“No problem, but just to be safe, we’ll walk with you until there’s more ground.” Chara replied.

“Sounds good! Man, I guess Undyne wasn’t as great as I thought.” MK lowered his head in defeat.

“They say ‘Never meet your heroes’, but honestly it’s good you saw her like that.” Chara reassured.

MK looked at Chara, very confused. “It is?”

“Because it gave you a chance to see that she had flaws. If you go around thinking everyone is flawless, you’ll become easier to manipulate.” Chara explained. “People will be more likely to lure you into a false sense of security.”

“I guess that makes sense.” MK said thoughtfully.

“Just a little advice, from human to monster.” Chara winked. MK gave a laugh, and the three made their way to the opposite end of the bridge where Undyne used to be. With a final wave goodbye to MK, the two made their way down the path, and stopped in front of the entrance to a cavern. 

Frisk gawked at the giant cavern entrance. “So this leads to Hotland?”

“That’s right.” Undyne's voice answered. The two looked up to see Undyne standing atop a point at the peak of the cavern entrance. “Seven SOULS is all we needed. Now the six we have are breaking. The two of you are the last ones we need. Then, King Asgore Dreemurr will become a god, and wipe humanity off of the surface, off of the map entirely.”

Chara felt a pit in his stomach. He had planned that so long ago, now Asgore had the chance to do the exact same… Except… Something felt off. “Monsters can absorb human SOULS, but if you had six already, why didn’t he absorb the first one he got? He could have crossed the barrier, and killed six more after that. Why take the long way?”

“Don’t speak as if you know our king!” Undyne hissed.

“I know a lot about him. He likes Golden Flower Tea, his nickname is Fluffybuns due to a monthly address where the queen had called him that without knowing the microphone was in her hand. He had a son named Asriel-”

“How do you-”

“And an adopted human child, named Chara, who Asriel had saved. The child fell ill, and Asriel died trying to fulfill their last wish, of seeing the field Golden Flowers in their town.”

Undyne stood still.

“Except, the human’s illness wasn’t sudden. They ate a poisonous flower, called a Buttercup. They poisoned themselves, and Asriel absorbed their SOUL so he could kill six more humans on the surface. He couldn’t do it, and he died.”

Undyne summoned a spear in her hand, clearly enraged. “You may know a lot of things, but that last one is false! It has to be! Why would the prince of all monsters waste such a perfect opportunity to free his people?!”

“Because he was too innocent to actually harm anyone. I told him he could have backed out of the plan, but he was also quite stubborn.” Chara scratched the back of his head. “That’s what made him a fun brother though.”

The bright yellow glow from behind Undyne's helmet half disappeared. “What are you trying to say?!”

Chara cleared his throat. “Greetings, my name is Chara Dreemurr, the first fallen human, and adopted son of Asgore and Toriel Dreemurr, adopted brother of Asriel Dreemurr. I’m sure my portrait is somewhere in the capital. You could confirm it yourself.” Chara summoned a ring of knives, and Frisk summoned her sword, standing behind Chara. “But you won’t. Just because we’re human. Frisk tried to be peaceful, and you almost killed her-” Chara summoned six more knives, 3 in each hand. “She tried showing mercy, but you’re only willing to fight, we’ll oblige, but only so we can get to the capital, and call this madness off!”

Undyne gripped her spear so hard, it snapped in two. She tore apart her helmet in a scream. She faced the two humans with a glare, revealing the one-eyed face beneath, which was, quite literally, fishy. The flame haired captain of the guard pointed to the humans. “If you have anything you need to do, I suggest doing it before you DIE!!” Chara looked around for a SAVE point. Something tells him that this wasn’t going to be easy. When he spotted it, he and Frisk quickly saved.

**_The wind is howling, and you now face the underground's newest hero. You’re filled with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION._ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

When they were done, Chara stepped forward, and instantly launched a hail of knives and fireballs up towards Undyne. She summoned two spears, and blocked most of them, before jumping down from her ledge, and in front of the two humans. Their SOULS emerged, and the world turned to grey. Undyne made a swiping motion with her spears, and the SOULS turned green.

“As long as you’re Green, you can’t escape! You have to learn to FIGHT DANGER HEAD ON!!” Undyne summoned a hail of spears and hurled them to the humans. Frisk blocked them with her sword, while Chara shot back with a hail of fire to dispel the other spears. In quick succession, he hurled the knives in his hands, as well as some from the ring around him towards Undyne. She blocked all the weapons, and was about to counter attack, when Frisk suddenly appeared in front of her, and attacked. Undyne blocked the sword's strike, before kicking Frisk away and hurling more spears. The two blocked most of them, but Frisk had considerably less practice, and as such, was slower to block the spears, causing her to get hit a few times. “Fuhuhuhu!! You really think a weakling like you can reach Asgore!?”

Chara didn’t take too kindly to that, and launched into an aggressive attack. multiple balls of fire were thrown from all over the place, but Chara had also decided to make a few jabs at Undyne to keep her distracted. Undyne did get hit, but she barely reacted to the strikes. “Pathetic!! If you’re really who you say you are, then I’m honestly disappointed…” 

“OH REALLY?!” Chara’s eyes flashed orange, blue, orange and then both. A sword-like knife appeared in his hand and he swiped at Undyne with the orange attack, and she moved into it, and then remained still for the blue and moved into the orange attack again, only for Chara to summon a similar weapon in his off hand, and combine the two for his next strike, which had shocked Undyne. She could neither move out of the way, or remain still, so she took the full force of the attack, to which she laughed afterwards.

“Not bad for a punk!!” She summoned a storm of spears and hurled them all at the two. Chara countered with his knives, but Frisk was still having trouble blocking them all, and she took a few more strikes. Undyne then charged at Chara, who’s SOUL went to normal. Chara dodged the attack effortlessly, and smirked, until Undyne changed direction.

“FRISK!!” Chara called out, but Frisk couldn’t react in time, and was impaled by Undyne's spear. She coughed out blood, and collapsed to the floor. Her SOUL cracked and shattered.

* * *

The two were thrust back in front of the SAVE point, and Chara wasted no time in charging out into the battle spot. He did the same as before, but when Undyne hit the ground, he wasn’t done. A wall of vines emerged from where Undyne had been standing and tried to ensnare the guard captain, only for Undyne to slash the vines away. She swiped her spear to turn the SOULS of both humans green, initiating the fight properly, but Chara still had more. His eyes flashed orange, blue, blue, orange and then both. Undyne managed to remain unscathed until the final attack, where she couldn’t do anything, and was struck head on, only for Chara's eyes to flash white between each one, and having walls of flame attack the guard from each side of her. When the attack was done, she looked at Chara in shock.

“Huh.” Chara said. “Sans was right when he said the strongest attack was a good go to for the start of the battle.” Chara then smirked.

“THEN I GUESS WE’RE DOING IT LIKE THAT!!” Undyne cackled as she summoned so many spears, the sun would be blocked out. Chara summoned as many knives and fires as he needed to dispel all the spears, but Undyne wasn’t done, she returned the SOULS to their true colors, and summoned spears in many different forms that the two either dodged, blocked or dispelled, before Undyne jumped into the air, summoning a giant spear in her hand and slamming it into the ground. The two dodged the spear, but the shockwave from the initial impact sent them flying. Chara landed on his feet, but Frisk ended up dangling over the edge. Chara ran up to try and help Frisk up.

“CHARA LO-” Before Frisk could finish her warning, Undyne leapt at Chara and impaled him with a spear, causing him to drop Frisk into the abyss below. 

* * *

They returned to the SAVE point, and Chara didn’t bother even getting into position before he launched his attack on Undyne, making a wall of fire appear just before she hit the ground. She took the attack head on, and burst through the flames, only to be caught off guard by Chara combining blue and orange attacks into one. She took two of the strikes head on, before blocking the third one, and kicking Chara away, only for Frisk to rush in and make desperate swipes at the warrior, who dodged each one, before kneeing Frisk in the gut, and sending her flying. Chara had caught Frisk, but the two were dangerously close to the edge, which Undyne took advantage of by leaping at them at impossible speed, but instead of impaling the two, she kicked them off.

* * *

They tried again and again, and each attempt ended the same ways. Either one or both get impaled by spears, thrown off the edge, or in the more brutal scenarios, get their head crushed like it was nothing. Safe to say, both Frisk and Chara were getting pushed to their breaking point. This attempt was proof of that, as Chara would summon walls of knives to attack Undyne even when they had to be blocking the oncoming spears, which Frisk started getting better at, even when the spear would all of a sudden change direction. 

Undyne was definitely surprised by how aggressive they were being, but most importantly by how effortlessly they were blocking her spears. A sense of deja vu washed over her, but she needed to focus. Humans were the enemies of everyone's hopes and dreams, and she wasn’t going to let these two ruin their chance at ever leaving the underground! Since it seemed like the one claiming to be the first fallen human kept channeling all his strength into his attacks, she decided to play the waiting ga-

“Don’t bother with the waiting game, it’ll be useless!” Chara threatened.

“How did you-” Frisk slashed Undyne in the back while she was distracted, unfortunately for them, she got even more pissed. “NGAAAAAHHHH!!!” Undyne summoned a storm of spears from above, and from below, which all struck the humans at the same time, making it impossible to judge when to dodge or block. Frisk only lasted about a minute before she became overridden with spears, and Chara lasted about a minute longer thanks to his knives before Undyne impaled him in the stomach, before even more spears made their way through him.

* * *

Undyne watched as the humans began to discuss something. A strategy? She wouldn’t put it past them. Humans were the enemy, and if they were trying to get Asgore to stop, then they would use any method possible. They had already managed to brainwash Papyrus and that kid, so they of course would discuss how to defeat her.

_“What are you two planning?”_ Undyne whispered to herself, before hearing the spot she perched upon begin to shake, she looked down, and then instinctively jumped, avoiding a wall of thorned vines from attacking her from below. She smirked, and then felt a surge of heat above her. She looked up, only to be hit by a wave of fire that knocked her down into the vines. She jumped down to the humans, thoroughly pissed, only to have knives launch themselves towards her at all directions during her descent. She blocked as many as she could, even summoning spears to dispel some of the projectiles, but she did get hit by quite a few of the projectiles. She landed onto the ground, not as perfectly as she would’ve liked, and faced one of the humans. She took a step and was instantly bombarded with fire and knives. She had to not only dodge the flames, but block the knives as well, which was not easy, and she was hit by a few of both. “THAT ALL YOU GOT!?”

“Nope.” Chara’s eyes flashed both blue and orange multiple times, and she rushed at Undyne, mixing the two attacks, throwing her for a loop as she was struck by three of the attacks, but she had blocked the fourth one, making a mental note that the combination of blue and orange attacks can be blocked. She smirked and saw her chance to kick the human away, but then she got attacked from the back. How could she forget about the other human! The one in front of her changed the direction of his attack, knocking the spear away from her, before striking again, making a giant gash in her armor and torso.

“Ngahhhh… You two were… Stronger than I thought….” Chara was breathing heavily. They had finally done it! Frisk walked up to Chara and the two exchanged a high five. “So then… This is where… It ends…”

“What?” Chara looked at Undyne, who was shaking, and beginning to phase away into dust.. “Oh no…!”

“Did we over do it?!” Frisk asked.

“...No….NO! I won’t die!” Undyne stabilized and shot the two a glare. Her good eye which was yellow, had turned pure black. “Everyone is counting on me to protect them!” Undyne turned the two’s SOULS green. “Humans… For the sake of everyone’s hopes and dreams, I WILL DEFEAT YOU!!”

The two blocked a barrage of spears. “We weren’t trying to kill you! We just wanted you to let us through, even if it meant fighting, we only wanted to get you to stop attacking!” Frisk pleaded.

“Bullshit…” Undyne sent out another wave of attacks. Once they were done blocking a slower attack, Chara noticed that her body was wavering and specks of dust were flying in the wind, with subtle hints of flower pollen mixed in.

“Okay, look we give up! There’s no more need to fight!” Chara undid the dagger sheath on his belt and threw it over the edge. “We’ll surrender, so please! Stop fighting!”

“You really are pathetic…” Undyne sent out another wave, that was slower than the last. "S-see how strong we are, when we believe in ourselves...?" Undyne drew a ragged breath.

“Your body is losing it’s shape, you’ll turn to dust soon!” Chara threw a Crab Apple on the floor. “Please, just stop and we’ll give you our SOULS!!”

“He….Heh….That’s not going to work on me!” Each wave of attack was slower than the last. “I won't...Give up….” Undyne lost the energy to summon more than three spears.

“UNDYNE STOP!!!” Frisk cried out.

“Ha….Ha...Alphys...This is what I was afraid of...This is why I never told you…” Undyne muttered to herself, as her body lost more and more of it's shape.

“Undyne…” Chara and Frisk looked at Undyne's dissolving form.

“No….No! NOT YET!! I WON’T DIE!!!” Undyne’s body fought with itself to not dust, and it eventually returned to normal, but something was wrong. “I WON’T DIE!!” Her arms and legs began melting. _"I WON'T DIE!!!!"_

“WHAT THE…!?” Chara exclaimed at the sight. He fell backwards in shock at what was happening, while Frisk looked on in horror.

_“I….WON’T….”_ Undyne launched one last spear towards the two humans, but it fell to the floor, without even making it halfway to it's targets, and Undyne dissolved into dust before she could melt any further.

Chara and Frisk froze at the event that just happened. Alex walked over to where Undyne was, and shivered. “Did that really just….?” Alex hugged himself.

“What the hell was that?” Clover asked.

“I didn’t think I’d see them…” Luke trailed off.

Alyssa was too busy comforting a crying Cass to even react.

Alex stared down at the spot, hugging himself tighter. _“I feel cold….”_

“I-I-I” Chara couldn’t finish his sentence.

“Did we just..?” Frisk collapsed on her knees, sobbing.

“I didn’t think I struck that hard, I wasn’t trying to…” Chara clutched his head. “I-I killed her...I actually killed someone…! I didn’t mean to! I-I-”

“What do we do now?” Frisk asked, still crying.

“I JUST WANTED A NORMAL LIFE!!!” Chara cried out.

Frisk looked over to Chara, who was curling into a ball. “Chara?”

“I DIDN’T THINK I ATTACKED HIM THAT HARD!!! I JUST WANTED HIM TO STOP!!!”

“Chara?!” Frisk ran up to the curled up form of Chara, and tried to get his attention by snapping her fingers. "Chara?! Snap out of it!!" She looked Chara in his eyes and saw that they were shaking, with the pupils almost invisible.

_“IT WAS HIS FAULT!!! HE NEVER LOVED ME!!! HE JUST KEPT ME AROUND AS A PUNCHING BAG!!! I DIDN’T THINK THIS WOULD-”_

Frisk gripped Chara's shoulders and tried to shake him out of his daze. “CHARA!!! CALM DOWN!!! YOU’RE NOT ON THE SURFACE!! WE’RE UNDERGROUND!!! WE CAN FIX THIS!!!”

_“I-I-IT WAS SELF DEFENSE!!! HE WAS GOING TO STRIKE FIRST!!!”_

“CHARA!!!” Frisk slapped Chara across the face and then pulled him into a hug. “WE CAN FIX THIS!!!”

“Frisk…?! I… What just…” Chara's eyes went back to normal and he looked around confused.

“WE messed up!” Frisk replied. “But we can fix this!! We have the ability to SAVE, which means we can LOAD that SAVE!!”

“That’s...Right...We’re underground…” Chara was taking deep breaths. “We’re underground...We can fix a mistake….” Chara was starting to get his bearings. “How do we-” Before Chara could finish, the world was drowned in darkness. Darkness like the void. Three options made themselves present. CONTINUE, RESET and LOAD. However, only the LOAD option was available, since CONTINUE and RESET were being consumed by dark tendrils.

**_*You don’t need to talk or refuse to fight to show mercy. Sometimes fleeing is the best option, your majesty._ **

“Fleeing?” Frisk raised an eyebrow.

“We can’t do that when our SOULS are green.” Chara explained.

**_*Who said you had to let her do that?_ **

Chara raised a brow. “What do you-”

“Wait, when she’s on the peak! When you use your attack, she’s too busy to notice us! That’s how I got behind her! We can use that to run through the cavern!” Frisk explained.

Chara facepalmed. “Now I feel like an idiot…”

“You were mad. Honestly, so was I. We were blinded by rage. But we have a chance to fix that mistake!” Frisk gave a gentle, yet determined smile.

“Right… We can fix it!” Chara stood up and walked over to the option saying LOAD. “Let’s fix our problem!” Chara reached out a hand, to which Frisk accepted. The two pressed the option, and found themselves back at the SAVE point, with Undyne well and alive.

* * *

Frisk waited by the classroom door, waiting for Kris to leave so they could go home. He was taking forever it seemed like. She pulled out her phone and texted him.

_*Are you ever going to leave?_

After a few more minutes, and no response. She sighed.

_*Hurry up before I drag you out of there!_

She pocketed her phone, and waited for a bit longer. It’s been three days since Kris talked about Mr. Jones at lunch. He didn’t forgive the teachers actions, but Frisk was honestly expecting the teacher to be suing her family right now. But it never happened. Tyler’s parents were able to confront the teacher, but she knew Kris would have still tried to fight him. _Did Mr. Jones stop? That’s the only explanation I can think of, but that wouldn’t make sense, since Kris is taking his sweet time getting out of there._ Frisk put her ear to the door to test if she could hear a fight. But there was nothing. “Oh to hell with this!” Frisk opened the door to the classroom. “Kris what’s taking you so-” Frisk stopped her question when she saw Mr. Jones pinning Kris to the floor with a foot.

The teacher looked at Frisk and gave an innocent smile. “Ah, Frisk! You’re brother here nearly took my eye out with his pencil. You're a good kid. Mind calling your mother?”

“Why not the police?” Frisk asked, raising a brow in suspicion.

“They’ll be merciful. He’s a kid. Your mother will teach him proper discipline.” His faux innocent smile was replaced with a more sinister one.

“Is that it? The police still seem like the better option. They could check the security footage to see what happened.” Frisk replied to gauge the teacher's reaction. Judging by the way his smile faltered with a look of worry, she hit the jackpot. “What. Did. You. DO!”

“Like I said, he attacked first.” Mr. Jones started to get erratic. “Just call your mother, and this matter will be resol-”

Frisk ran up to the teacher and kicked him in the stomach. “GET OFF MY BROTHER!!” Frisk pulled Kris off the floor. “You ok?”

Kris just stared at Frisk with a blank expression. “Do I look ok?”

Frisk tilted her head and shrugged. “Fair point.” 

The door to the classroom swung open. “What was that noise?!” The Principal entered the classroom, to see the teacher clutching his stomach in pain. He quickly pointed to Frisk and Kris. 

“They assaulted me!”

Frisk quickly pointed back to the teacher. “He started it!”

“Kris nearly took my eye out with his pencil, and his sister kicked me in the gut after I got Kris to back off of me!”

“He attacked me first!” Kris corrected.

The principal sighed and pinched his nose. “I’m calling your parents, and we’ll get the security guards on the footage to see what happened. Office, NOW!”

Frisk gulped and glanced at Kris, who just stared Mr. Jones down with a death glare. _We’re dead..._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frisk would prefer not to fight, but that doesn't mean she's a full on pacifist.


	21. Spear of-HEY GET BACK HERE!!! (Part 2 of 2)

The five fallen children looked around at the scenery before them. Undyne, who was dead just mere moments ago, was now back on top of the peak of the cavern entrance. Luke and the others looked around wildly, confused on how she was back, while Clover stared out into nothing, wide eyed. "S-so, how'd we get back here?" Clover finally asked, with a shaky voice. "D-did they die, or something?"

“No, they were perfectly fine…” Luke replied. "And we didn't experience any pain, like when Chara dies. So unless Frisk kicked the bucket while we weren't looking-"

“WHO CARES!!” Aylssa screamed. “We’re back, so maybe they won’t kill her again!”

“It just doesn’t make sense!" Luke shot back. "How’d we get back!? What happened that caused them to-”

“Guys, please don’t fight!” Cass interrupted. “We’re back, so let’s forget it!” The young girl began to tear up. Clover huffed and Alyssa gave Cass a hug, and then began to carry her.

Luke glanced around the others and realized one was missing. “Hey, where’s Alex?”

“O-over h-here!” Alex replied, standing in the spot where Undyne used to be dead. “I-I’m k-kinda c-c-cold…”

“Alex, are you-” Before Luke could finish, a wall of vines shot up towards Undyne from the back. She swiped a few of the vines away, but got trapped by the others, prompting Chara and Frisk to bolt through the cavern entrance. “What the-”

“Don’t question it, follow!!” Clover urged the two to get a move on. Luke could hear Undyne freeing herself from the vines and jumping down, yelling at the two living humans, the sound of her yelling drowning out the rushing water beneath the rocks. Everyone turned right and a giant neon sign announcing Hotland.

“Hotland! We’re almost-” Alyssa was cut off by a spear being thrown at the two humans, which was easily dodged. Chara and Frisk reached the halfway point of the sign, when their phone rang.

“Who’s calling them at a time like this?!” Clover cried out.

“This is bad! What if-” Luke paused his thought, when he saw Undyne giving Chara and Frisk a thumbs up to answer the phone. Four out of five of the fallen children were looking at Undyne, who was catching her breath, with utter confusion.

“Oh yeah!!” Cass perked up. “Chara said monsters don’t like to interrupt phone calls!” Everyone let out a collective ‘oh’, before Chara put the phone away and looked over at Undyne.

“You good?” He asked.

Undyne straightened up her posture and nodded. "I'll give you a three second head start." Chara and Frisk nodded and then ran, leaving Undyne counting to three on her fingers before charging at the runners in a sprint.

“Back on the chase!” Clover said jokingly.

“Yep! Woah…” Alyssa looked around the sudden scenery change. The cool colors of blues and purples were immediately replaced with warm reds and oranges, with molten magma bubbling far below high steeps Undyne and the humans ran atop of. Whereas Waterfall was moist and cool, Hotland was dry, and oppressive, with the stones beneath devoid of any moisture. Small towers of magma and flame shot up from the blazing lake below, but ultimately could not reach high enough to attack anyone. The only sense of familiarity was a lone station, with a blue parka wearing, napping skeleton beneath.

“Of course Sans is asleep!” Clover quickly pointed to the sentry station. “Wait, why is there snow on his roof?”

“Magic underground remember!” Alyssa answered. Chara and Frisk began crossing a rock formation bridging over to the rest of Hotland, while Undyne briefly stopped at Sans' station.

"SANS!!! YOU IDIOT THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!!!" Undyne pounded her fists on the station, but the skeleton didn't even stir awake.

“At least he made a good distraction!” Luke quipped.

Undyne growled and slammed her fist on the station once more. "IF IT WASN'T FOR PAPYRUS, YOU'D BE OUT OF A JOB BY NOW!!! AND YOU TWO, GET...BACK...HEre!!!" Chara and Frisk made it to the end of the bridge, only to nearly collapse due to both exertion and heat. They tried to catch their breath, when Undyne slowly made her way to them, slowing down from the heat. “Armor…Too…Hot…But I...Can't...Give up...” Undyne fell face first into the bridge.

“That is definitely not good.” Chara muttered.

Frisk looked to Chara with panic in her eyes. “What do we do?”

Chara looked around, and spotted a water cooler sitting nearby, un bothered by the heat. “You remove the armor, and I’ll apply the water.” Frisk nodded at the plan and began to slowly, but precisely, remove bits and pieces of Undyne’s armor off, starting with the pauldrons. Chara went over to the water cooler, and removed the container full of water and carried it over to Undyne.

Frisk looked up at Chara, holding one of the gauntlets. “I took off what I could, but the rest is impossible unless she was on her back.”

“What you did is fine enough!” Chara gave a smile, and then began pouring the water out of the cooler onto Undyne, the water seeping into and getting absorbed by her azure scales. After a few seconds, Undyne opened up her lone eye and moved onto her back, looking up at the two humans and the water cooler. Without a word, she slowly pulled herself into a seating position, and onto her feet, only to stumble a mere few seconds afterwards.

“I got you!” Frisk caught Undyne, getting slightly crushed by the ebony armor. She strained to keep her balance. "Wow, your armor is heavy..."

“Come on, we’ll get you out of here.” Chara said, pouring a bit more water on Undyne. Frisk began helping Undyne up, and the trio made their way to the opposite end of the bridge. Chara kept giving Undyne water whenever she was about to collapse, and everyone made it to Sans’ station, where he fianlly woke up and took in the sight.

“well. never thought i’d see you guys helping her out." Sans chuckled. "i thought she would’ve tried killing ya by now.”

“Not the time Sans.” Frisk muttered.

“Care to help?” Chara asked.

Sans shrugged and stood up from a chair behind his station. “sure, i know a shortcut to her place.” Sans walked from his station, and ushered the three back across the rock formation. In a blink of an eye, everyone was in front of an angry, fittingly fish like building, that seemed to be perpetually shrouded halfway in shadows. Sans motioned Frisk to the door, which appeared to looked like sharp fangs, which opened up exactly how one would think a door to a house like Undyne's would. Undyne got off of Frisk and entered the house herself. The door closed and Sans looked between Chara and Frisk. "how about we head back to my place? i'm sure you two could use a break."

“A break sounds nice.” Chara replied.

“I could go for one.” Frisk added.

"alrighty then." Sans snapped his fingers, not even bothering to move his feet, as the world blackened, and reappeared before Frisk and Chara's eyes to reveal the inside of Sans and Papyrus' house. The trio headed straight for the couch, settling in for the rest of the day.

The door to Papyrus' room suddenly opened, and the skeleton himself made his appearance. “SANS! I NEED YOUR OPINION ON MY DESIGN FOR MY REPLACEMENT BATTLE BODY!!” Papyrus looked at Frisk and Chara sitting on the couch. “HUMANS!! SO GOOD TO SEE YOU AGAIN!!”

Chara eyed Papyrus. He kept the scarf and boots, but he was no longer wearing his gloves, and his battle body was replaced with a plain black sweater with grey jeans. “Where’s your battle body?”

“AH, WELL… I WAS TRYING TO RECALIBRATE THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR AND IT ACTIVATED. LONG STORY SHORT, MY BATTLE BODY DID NOT MAKE IT…” Papyrus seemed more inconvenienced by that than upset. “NEVER FEAR, I THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM ALREADY WORKING ON A REPLACEMENT! NYEH HEH HEH!!” Papyrus held up a sketch of the new battle body, except everything was the same.

“Maybe try a different design.” Frisk suggested. “Something that screams, ‘Future member of the Royal Guard’ even more!”

“HMMM… THAT DOES SOUND RATHER INTERESTING." Papyrus hummed in thought, before looking at the two humans hopefully. "WOULD YOU LIKE TO HELP ME COME UP WITH SAID DESIGN?”

“Maybe later. Chara and I are really tired after running around Waterfall. And from running away from Undyne.” Frisk yawned.

Papyrus at first seemed upset, mainly of their tiredness it seemed, before he perked up and nodded. “OF COURSE. IF YOU’D LIKE, I CAN LET YOU SLEEP IN MY ROOM, AND I CAN TAKE THE COUCH.”

“We’re fine.” Frisk reassured.

“WELL, AT LEAST LET ME MAKE IT MORE COMFORTABLE! THEN WE CAN DISCUSS MY NEW BATTLE BODY! OH, BUT I HAVE TRAINING WITH UNDYNE TOMORROW…” Papyrus went into thinking mode. “AH I KNOW! TOMORROW ALL OF US WILL HEAD TO UNDYNE’S PLACE! THAT WAY, YOU GUYS HAVE A CHANCE TO BECOME BETTER FRIENDS!! NYEH HEH HEH!!”  
  


“She hates our guts Papyrus.” Chara spoke. “Why would she try and be our friend?”

“TRUST ME CHARA, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE A WAY!! NOW LET ME GET A FEW PILLOWS AND A BLANKET YOU COULD SHARE FOR THE COUCH!”

* * *

Chara and Frisk wrapped themselves up on the couch, with Frisk laying on top of Chara and the two drifted off to sleep, prompting Papyrus to turn out the lights, but the tall skeleton didn't leave the living room quite yet.

“WHAT ABOUT YOU FIVE?” Papyrus asked.

“We don’t really need sleep.” Clover explained. “We’re ghosts.”

“AH RIGHT, OF COURSE.” Papyrus looked around the room. “WHERE’S SAM?” The five fallen children looked to the floor dejected. After a few seconds, Papyrus got the hint. “O-OH… I’M SORRY. I HONESTLY DIDN’T THINK-”

“It’s fine.” Luke interrupted. “We’re fine. It was just a shock. But, the rest of us will be fine!”

“ARE YOU SURE?" Papyrus looked worried. "UNDYNE LIVES NEXT TO A GOHST, SO I'M SURE YOU COULD ASK THEM ABOUT IT.”

“We already tried. He didn’t have any answers.” Alyssa responded.

“I-I SEE.” Papyrus walked over to the stairs, but stopped when he saw Alex shivering. “ALEX, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?”

“I-I-I’m just cold.. I’ll b-be ok-okay…”

“WELL, I COULD TRY TO FIND SOMETHING TO WARM YOU UP!" Papyrus offered, a concern riding throughout his voice. "WE MIGHT HAVE WARM MATERIAL LEFTOVER FROM THE PREVIOUS BATTLE BODY BUILD.”

“Wait really?” Clover looked at Papyrus.

“THE COLD IS VICIOUS AGAINST MY BONES, SO WE MADE IT WITH WARMTH IN MIND.” The tall skeleton explained casually.

“R-really, I-I’m fine…”

“BUT WHAT ABOUT…” Papyrus paused, and approached the others. _“THE BLACK SPOTS… ARE THEY NORMAL?”_

_“The what?!”_ Luke looked over to Alex, who had several void black spots crawling up his arms. _“No…”_

_“WHAT DO THEY MEAN?”_ Papyrus asked.

_“Something similar happened to Sam… Before they faded away…”_ Alyssa explained somberly.

_“IS THERE A WAY TO STOP IT?”_ Papyrus grew even more worried.

_“We don’t know.”_ Alyssa answered. _“But don’t bring it up. Whatever is happening, drawing attention to it might make it faster. Just let us handle it.”_

_“ALRIGHT. I HOPE YOU CAN HELP HIM…”_ Papyrus looked dejected.

Clover looked up at the skeleton, and then to Alex, who was shivering in the corner. “We _hope so too…”_

* * *

Chara heard a noise in the kitchen. He slowly opened his eyes, and made sure Frisk was still asleep. He felt as though she needed it most, since most of the deaths Undyne caused happened to Frisk. She didn’t move at the sound, and her head was still laying on his chest, and she still had her arms wrapped around him. He made a quiet sigh of relief and patted her head. He waited on the couch to see who was getting a snack in the middle of the night, both because he didn’t want to wake Frisk up, and because he was kind of stuck there anyway. Sans walked out from the kitchen entrance, and Chara just sleepily glared at the skeleton.

_“hey, kid, what’s up?”_ Sans finger gunned.

_“Me, because of you."_ Chara snarked. _"What are you doing?”_

_“gettin’ a snack.”_ Sans held up one of the refrigerated bags of chips.

Chara raised a brow. _“Ok, but why?”_

Sans shrugged. _“why not?”_

Chara sighed, causing Frisk to stir a bit. He panicked, but she just tightened her grip and remained asleep. After a few seconds Chara sighed, inaudibly, in relief.

_“you must've taken a real liking to her if you were that worried about waking her up.”_ Sans winked.

_“We’re in this together. We’re partners.”_

_“partners in crime, or partners as in a couple?”_

Chara blushed. _“I-”_

_“eh, don’t worry about it. i ain’t in charge of who you decide to date.”_

Chara’s face went so red, it could almost illuminate the room. Sans let out a small, quiet chuckle. _“You’re the worst Sans…”_

_“uh-huh.”_ Sans began walking to his room.

_“Sans?”_

_“yep?”_ Sans paused on the stairway.

_“Next time you have guests over, don’t go rooting around the fridge for a midnight snack. It’s rude.”_

Sans looked taken aback, but quickly shrugged. _“i make no promises…”_

_“I know that fact all too well….”_ Chara closed his eyes.

Sans walked into his room, and sighed. “first Chara comes back, and now Papyrus is talking to the air again.” Sans muttered. “sure, he’s actually saying names now, but it still feels off.” Sans looked out into his room, with it’s self sustaining trash-nado, lone treadmill and worn out mattress. He sighed, and walked out the door, and into a new room. There was something underneath a large white tarp, and blueprints were scattered all across the table. Sans walked up to one to one of the drawers, and pulled out a photograph. It was Sans surrounded by other various monsters, but his eyes only focused on one.

* * *

“I still don’t see why you aren’t putting more effort into this.” Sans said to the near 7ft figure in front of him. “You have the equipment for it!”

The figure didn’t respond. Two spectral hands appeared near them, and started to make gestures. (You wouldn’t understand Sans.)

“I understand that you don’t need to use sign language with me. You speak perfectly fine at home, since we’re alone there. We’re alone now, so just speak normally.”

The figure turned to Sans. One eye was glowing a deep blue, while the other was glowing a bright purple. The figure continued to sign. (Someone could walk in. besides, I need this connection to make sure everything is going accordingly.)

“The human’s dying, Chara is DYING!! The king and queen asked for help, so why aren’t you putting in more effort?”

(If I save him, we could lose our chance to be free!)

“What do you-Wait, are letting him die, so that you could get his SOUL? Is that why you wanted me to meet them?! So you could get closer to them and steal their SOUL?!”

(Sans...I’m not the one who’s going to absorb his SOUL, the prince is.)

“What’re you saying?”

(Chara will die, and Asriel will take his body to the surface, and then return, and die as well.) Sans remained silent. (Then, Chara will come back, with a new human. Their actions will free us all.)

“You just lost me.”

The figure facepalmed. (The point is, I will not be saving Chara’s life. If I do, we’ll have lost our chance at freedom!)

“With all due respect, you just sound crazy… You hit your head or something?”

(Trust me Sans… I know what I’m doing. Remember this….)

* * *

“i hope this goes how you wanted it to go, old man.” Sans sighed, and left the room. The room went colder, and darker. The blueprints on the table flew off, and the picture was lifted into the air. Attached to it, was another picture, of three smiling crayon figures. In dark letters, something formed onto the paper.

_Don’t Forget…_

**_*It’s all going according to how I saw it..._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to use Wingdings, but google docs doesn't have that as a font option.... :'(


	22. The Perfect Revenge!

Chara and Frisk followed Papyrus to the river, where a cloaked figure on a boat strolled up. Frisk looked at the figure curiously, but Chara and Papyrus were happy to see them. "So, who exactly is this?"

“THIS IS THE RIVERPERSON!" Papyrus gestured to the cloaked figure. "THEY CAN TAKE US TO UNDYNE’S PLACE!”

“Tra la la. That is correct. I can take you to hotlands, wetlands, snowlands, wherever is possible.” The Riverperson said in an oddly cryptic tone.

“WATERFALL PLEASE!”

“Climb aboard and I shall take you to your desired location.” A gloved, floating hand appeared and the Riverperson gestured to the open space behind them. The trio got on, and the boat began to move in opposite of where Waterfall actually was. The Riverperson began humming. “Tra la la. Eat a mushroom everyday…”

_“Why would we do that?”_ Clover whispered to themself.

The Riverperson looked to where Clover was floating along, and a smile seemed to appear within the hood. “So I know you’re listening to me.”

“AH YES, I FORGOT THAT THEY COULD DO THAT!” Papyrus said.

“They can see the others?” Frisk asked.

“CORRECT! ME AND THE RIVERPERSON SHARE A COMMONALITY WITH THAT!”

“You flatter me, oh Great Papyrus…” The Riverperson responded, as the boat drew to a stop. “Come back, and I’ll take you somewhere else, tra la la.”

“Of course!” Chara smiled. The two followed Papyrus to the front of Undyne’s menacing, giant fish like, shrouded in shadow house, where the sound of loud, out of key piano music was playing from within.

Papyrus turned to the humans with a wide smile on his face. “ARE YOU TWO READY TO GET THIS HANG-OUT STARTED?”

“Yes.” Frisk replied. Chara only nodded.

“GOOD." Papyrus looked further ahead from the two, at the ghostly humans behind them. "I’M SORRY FOR THE REST OF YOU." He looked back at Frisk and Chara. "I CAN GUESS THAT SHE CAN’T SEE THE OTHERS…”

“Correct.” Luke nodded.

“WELL, THIS IS BETTER THAN NOTHING!” Papyrus turned to knock on the door, but quickly looked back at the two. “OH I ALMOST FORGOT.” Papyrus handed Chara a golden bone wrapped in a red ribbon. “BE SURE TO GIVE HER THAT, SHE LOVES THOSE!” Papyrus then turned to the sharp toothed doors of the house and knocked a few times.

"There in a second!" The muffled voice of Undyne answered from within. The sound of the piano died out and the door to the house opened. Undyne stood in front of the entrance and took a single glance at Papyrus, flinching back a bit. “Woah, what happened to your ‘battle body’?

“SMALL ACCIDENT WITH A PUZZLE, BUT I AM WORKING OUT THE DETAILS FOR A REPLACEMENT!” Papyrus explained calmly, like it happens every other day.

“Ah, okay." Undyne then grinned, her fangs going on full display, as she cracked her knuckles. "Well, are you ready for your extra private, one-on-one training?”

Alyssa snickered, but Papyrus ignored her. “YOU BET YOUR SWEET BIPPY I AM! BUT IF IT’S ALRIGHT WITH YOU, I ACTUALLY BROUGHT A COUPLE OF FRIENDS!”

“Oh, that’s fine!” Papyrus moved out of Undyne’s way so she could see the two humans. “Hi, I don’t think we’ve…”

“Hello!” Frisk waved.

“Greetings.” Chara said.

Undyne stared at the two in disbelief. Since she wasn't on duty, her armor was replaced with a simple black tank top, blue jeans and red boots similar to Papyrus', and her hair, which was previously pulled away from her face all the way, was now done up more casually, with a large part of her hair covering up her eyepatch. “Why don’t…You guys...Come in?” Undyne walked into her house, while Papyrus happily wiped his feet on the door mat. Frisk and Chara followed Papyrus shortly after, also wiping their feet on the door mat.

“Here we go.” Clover said.

“Alex, are you good?” Luke looked over to Alex, who was still shivering. Alex just gave a thumbs up.

Everyone looked at him with worry, but headed inside anyway.

* * *

“Oh, Undyne, we brought a gift for you!” Chara held up the golden bone and handed it to Undyne.

“Uh, thanks...I’ll uh, put it with the others.” Undyne walked over to a drawer and plopped the bone inside. She wiped her hands and placed them on her hips, looking solely at Papyrus. “So, are we ready to start?”

“OOPS, I JUST REMEMBERED, I NEED TO USE THE LITTLE SKELETON’S ROOM! WELL, YOU THREE HAVE FUN!!” Papyrus proceeded jump out the window, tumbling down on the ground a bit at the end, before disappearing entriely. Frisk and Chara looked at the broken window in shock, while Undyne seemed more unimpressed than anything.

“Huh...Normally he sticks the landing….” Undyne glared at the two humans. “So...What do you two want? To rub your victory in my face? To humiliate me even further?! IS THAT IT!?”

“We’re here to say we’re sorry, and that we’d like to become friends with you.” Chara replied.

“We just got off on the wrong foot, so hopefully we can start over!” Frisk added quickly. The two humans put on a smile, though Chara's looked more forced than Frisk's.

Undyne pointed to herself. “Me?" She then pointed to the two humans in front of her. "Friends with you? HOW DELIGHTFUL, I ACCEPT!” Frisk and Chara looked shocked. Undyne did a small twirl in place and made a cutesy anime pose. “Let’s all frolic in the fields of friendship!” Undyne said cheerfully, before baring her teeth and growling at the two. “NOT!!!”

_“Ah, there it is.”_ Chara whispered.

“You two are the enemy of everyone’s hopes and dreams!" Undyne declared, clenching her fists. "Why would I ever be friends with you?" Frisk raised a finger to answer, but Undyne quickly held a hand up to stop her. "If you weren’t my houseguest, I’d beat you up right now! Get out of my house!” Undyne hissed. Chara and Frisk looked at each other, and began to make for the door.

“DRATS! I REALLY THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOU. BUT I GUESS SHE’S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF BEFRIENDING A HUMAN, LET ALONE TWO.” A sudden Papyrus said from the window, in an oddly smug tone of voice. “SUCH A SHAME.” Papyrus then walked away from the window.

“CHALLENGE!? What are you talking about!? GET BACK HERE!!!” Undyne rushed to the window, but Papyrus was nowhere to be seen. “Damn it!” Undyne positioned herself between the humans and the door. “He thinks I can’t be friends with YOU TWO!? FUHUHUHU!!! What a joke! I could make friends with losers like you any day! I’ll show him!” Undyne invaded the two’s personal space. “Listen up humans, we’re not just going to be friends, we’re going to be...BESTIES!” Frisk and Chara were really starting to regret this. “I’ll make you two like me so much, you won’t even be able to think of anyone else!!”

“Aw really? But I like thinking about Frisk!” Chara joked.

“Not the time, Chara…” Frisk blushed.

“FUHUHUHHUHU!!!! IT’S THE PERFECT REVENGE!!!!” Undyne cleared her throat and assumed a friendly stature. “Why don’t you guys have a seat?” The two humans took that as an opportunity to look around Undyne's house for for a bit. The floor left a lot to be desired, with it's bright blue and yellow checkerboard design, which clashed with the bright blue walls with pink fishes swimming across. The fridge seemed to have a red glow peering out, but other than those few things, the inside of the house looked pretty normal. Chara approached the piano and played a few keys. “This one time, Alphys’ uh… Friend(?) came over here, and all he did was lie seductively on the piano, feeding himself grapes…I don’t really like that guy, but I admire the lifestyle.”

“Sounds like my worst nightmare….” Chara muttered.

Frisk walked up to a massive sword placed just next to the table, that had looked like it came from the ‘Berserk’ series. Frisk slowly backed away from and gestured to the giant sword. “Um...Do I even want to know?”

“It’s an historically accurate human weapon!” Undyne said with a 'matter of fact' voice.

“Saywhatnow?” Frisk looked at Undyne like she had gone insane.

“According to Alphys’ human history books, humans could wield swords 10x their size!" Undyne made a roar cry, before looking at Frisk with a glint in her eye. "RIGHT?”

Frisk looked to Chara for help, but he just shrugged. “Humans forgot that they trapped an entire race of monsters under a mountain, so who’s to say they couldn’t?” Frisk was about to retort, but shut her mouth. He actually made a decent point.

Chara looked at the oven in the middle of the kitchen set. The brand read ‘MTT branded super oven!’, but nothing about the oven seemed super. “Y’know, as much as technology advances, nothing beats food home-cooked with fire magic!” Undyne said.

“You’re telling me.” Chara said sadly. Frisk opened the fridge, only to get blasted with heat. She closed it and looked at Undyne.

“I hate cold food." Undyne said simply. "So Alphys fixed up my fridge so it heats up food instead!”

“Hot fridge? World’s greatest invention…” Frisk said sarcastically.

“I know right!” Undyne replied enthusiastically, missing the sarcasm.

Chara sat down at the table. “What’s Alphys like?”

“Why do you ask?” Undyne eyed the human prince with suspicion.

“Well, they made up that tile puzzle in Snowdin, and you said they made the fridge heat up food. I guess I’m just curious is all.” _So far, only the tile puzzle seems assistant worthy, but then again Gaster is easy to impress._

“Well, to put it bluntly, she’s a nerd, but she means well! In fact, she helped make that sword!”

_Well no new development. I guess I’ll just have to meet her myself when we reach Gaster’s lab._ Chara thought to himself as Frisk sat down on the table next to him, slightly leaning into his arm.

“Comfortable?” Undyne asked. The humans each gave a thumbs up. “Good. I’ll get you something to drink!”

“Do you have tea?” Chara asked.

“Yeah! I got Green, Chamomile, Golden Flower-”

“Golden Flower tea please.” Chara said immediately.

“Coming right up!”

“The best way to make the tea is to use cold, filtered, low mineral water, and the temperature is like an herbal tea, needing to be a 212 degrees fahrenheit, or 100 degrees celsius. And you need at least three teaspoons if you plan on having some as well.” Chara said as if on auto-pilot. “It goes best with warm biscuits.”

Undyne looked at Chara and then at the instruction on the box, and then back at Chara like he was a ghost, which is funny to type out, considering an actual ghost lives next door. “How’d you…?”

“I told you back at the cavern entrance. I’m the first fallen human, Chara Dreemurr. Golden Flower tea was Asgore's favorite kind. Him and me would have a cup after our gardening sessions. Oh, and the tea goes best with scones!” Undyne kept looking at Chara like he had predicted the future, and went to work on making the tea. She followed the instructions, both told by Chara and on the box, since they were almost the same. When it was done, she poured three cups, one for her, and the other two were pretty obvious. She set the cups on the table.

“Careful, it’s hot.” Undyne warned. Chara didn’t heed the warning and just went straight for it.

“It’s better hot.” He said after taking a sip. He looked at Frisk, who was staring back at Chara like he was crazy. “Trust me, it won’t kill your throat!”

Frisk risked a sip of the burning hot tea, and found that Chara was right! “That is good…”

“Told you!”

Undyne took a sip from her cup and then looked at Chara. “So...If you really are who you say you are, how’d you come back?”

Chara was afraid of that question. “I-I’m not so sure. I just woke up in the Ruins with Frisk. The last thing I remember was laying on my bed in New Home, with Asgore telling me to stay determined to live…”

Undyne wanted to call him out, but something was stopping her. “Describe the royal family.”

“Well, Asgore is around, 8ft, not counting his horns, and is a head taller than Toriel. He always wore his giant purple cape even if he was lounging around the house or working in the garden. Toriel was content with a simple robe, with a few gold accessories because she was insisted that they’d look good. Asriel looked more like Toriel and always wore a green sweater with multiple yellow stripes. Asgore has bushy yellow hair and beard, and he always dressed up as Santa.” Chara explained. “Is that enough?”

“Quite.” Undyne took another sip of her tea. “Why do you want to stop his plan?”

“Hmm?” Chara was too busy taking a sip of tea to answer properly.

“Asgore told one day, that you hated humanity. That you'd say nothing but terrible things about it." Undyne took another sip of tea, and then looked Chara in the eyes. "So why stop his plan?”

“Well…After traveling with Frisk, I realized something. I only hated humanity because of what my birth dad put me through. After a few days of traveling with Frisk, I realized saying all of humanity are tyrants because of a few bad apples is like saying all monsters are jerks because of _jerry.”_

Undyne chuckled at that. “Ok, you have a point there! Although at the same time, that’s like saying all monsters are saints because of Papyrus…” Undyne looked dejected.

“Can I ask a question?” Frisk spoke up.

Undyne glanced at Frisk and nodded. “Yeah, what's up?”

“How come you haven’t let him into the Royal Guard?”

Undyne practically downed her tea afterwards. “Well...I don’t know if it’s a good idea…”

Frisk tilted her head and raised a brow. “Why not?”

“It can’t be because he’s weak.” Chara guessed. “He’s actually pretty tough.”

“Oh yeah, he’s a tough cookie! It’s just...He’s too innocent and nice!!! He was supposed to capture you, but he ended up being friends with you!" Undyne sighed. "If I send him into a real battle, he’ll either get ripped into smiling shreds, or..." Undyne took a shaky breath. "That innocence of his would be robbed from the fighting, and killing…” Undyne clenched her fist. “That’s part of why I started teaching him how to cook instead!”

“What all have you taught him to cook?” Frisk asked before taking a sip of tea.

“Mainly spaghetti. Anything else he learned on his own.” Undyne looked at her cup. “I’m going to refill my cup real quick.” Undyne stood up from the table before she stopped. “Papyrus...His cooking lesson...HE’S SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING THAT RIGHT NOW!!!" Undyne turned her head, and glared at Frisk and Chara. "And if he’s not here to have it-”

“Oh no.” The two humans said in sync.

“OH YES!!” Undyne jumped up onto her counter and slid to the other side, knocking over the tea. “Nothing has brought me and Papyrus closer than cooking!! Which means if I give you his lesson, we’ll become closer than ever before!!”

“It’s hard to argue with that logic…” Frisk muttered.

“Fuhuhuhu!! Afraid??”

“Little bit.” Chara replied.

“Mainly that I’m going to die from this.” Frisk responded.

Undyne jumped behind the two humans, and picked them up by the head, the two somehow remaining in their seated state, even as Undyne jumped back to the counter and dropped them onto their buts. They stood up and faced their new, eager teacher. “First, we prepare the sauce!” Undyne stomped her foot on the ground, causing a few tomatoes, a bell pepper, and, for some reason, a banana and carrot to fall from the ceiling...Somehow. “Imagine these vegetables as your greatest enemy! NOW!! POUND THEM TO DUST WITH YOUR FIST!!!” Frisk went up first, and looked at the vegetables. Her mind went back to Mr. Jones and that incident he caused, and she struck the veggies at full force, knocking over a couple of tomatoes. Undyne looked at Frisk proudly.

“My turn.” Chara said, before drawing his dagger and slashing the vegetables a couple of times, before stabbing one of the knocked over tomatoes. It was pretty obvious to Frisk who Chara envisioned. Undyne looked at him like he was crazy.

“Remind not to get on your bad side.” She said calmly. “But can you feel it? Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients!” Undyne struck the veggies at full power, smashing them all, and getting the remains everywhere, even onto the three themselves. “Uh...We’ll just scrape this into a bowl later.” Chara could feel as though someone was getting pretty fucking angry at the scene. “Now, the noodles!” Undyne stomped the floor again, causing a pot and a box of noodles to also fall from the ceiling, directly onto the stovetop. “Homemade noodles are the best, but also the most expensive, so I just use store-brand! Just add them to the pot!”

Frisk took the box of noodles and added them to the pot with a normal amount of force so that they all left the box faster. “YEAH, I’M INTO IT!!! Now we stir!” Undyne summoned a spear and brutalized the pot. “Fuhuhuhu!! That’s the stuff! Now for the final step, TURN UP THE HEAT!!! Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire!! Don’t hold anything back!!” Chara began turning up the heat, still getting the feeling that someone really disapproves of Undyne’s cooking methods, so he tried to go as slow as possible. “HOTTER DAMNIT!!!” Chara jumped out of his skin and turned the heat up all the way in the process, causing the flame from the stovetop to engulf the pot. “Wait that’s too-” Undyne never had a chance to finish, as the fire from the stove burned white hot, and enveloping the whole area, resulting in the house bursting into flames.

Luke looked around the flaming room, furious as all hell. “THAT WASN’T EVEN COOKING!!! THAT’S JUST ARSON AGAINST YOURSELF!!!! WHO TAUGHT YOU HOW TO COOK AND WHY?!?!?!?!?!”

“Luke, calm down!” Clover deadpanned.

“CALM DOWN?!?! DID YOU SEE THE SAME THING I DID?!?!”

“Yes, but you don’t need to act like an Italian who’s grandma was insulted.”

“Well in technicality, I am Italian.” Luke replied.

Clover sighed. “Just, calm down. She didn’t do it to insult you personally.”

“That was kinda cool though!” Alyssa said. “Right Alex?”

“I-I guess…” Alex wasn’t into it. Which worried the others immensely.

Undyne coughed out some soot. “So what’s next? Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?”

“Bracelets sound nice!” Frisk replied.

“Hell yeah they do!...” Undyne cried out, before placing her hands on the burnt stovetop, sighing in discontent. “Who am I kidding...I really screwed this up, didn’t I?”

“I’ve seen worse.” Frisk responded. “Someone tried to befriend my brother by doing literally everything he hated!” Frisk started to chuckle. She looked back up at Undyne, who was still scowling at the outcome. “Look, this might have gotten out of hand, but it was a good attempt. The parts where you were calm and engaged in friendly conversation were perfect, it’s just that you kinda went on the deep end there…”

“Well, I guess I’m just used to it…" Undyne said somberly. "Everyone down here was hoping I’d be able to free them, that Asgore would be able to get revenge, but…" Undyne walked away from the stove in a huff and kicked the burning table. "The SOULS we have are breaking. Asgore isn’t sure how long they’ll last, and I can tell that he’s regretting declaring war on humanity more and more everyday.”

“We can convince him to stop. He can put this behind him.” Chara reassured.

Undyne looked to Chara hopefully, but she quickly buried that hope down. “But the barrier can only be broken by seven human SOULS. If we let this go now, we may never get out of here…”

Frisk hummed in thought. “Wait, you just need seven SOULS, but was it ever mentioned that a monster _NEEDS_ to absorb them in order to break the barrier?”

“What are you saying?” Undyne and Chara said in sync.

“I’m saying, can’t seven, _LIVING_ humans break the barrier without giving up their SOULS?" Frisk asked. "You just need seven SOULS, but do they really need to die in order to break the barrier?”

Undyne's lone eye widened. “Are you saying-”

“If we stop Asgore, and wait for five more humans to fall down, then there will be seven humans, who can combine their own strengths to break the barrier.” Frisk explained.

“I-I never thought of that…” Chara muttered.

“That sounds like something you’d need to ask Alphys. She will be able to understand you better. But if you think you can actually convince Asgore to stop… Then go for it.” Undyne said with a smile.

“You’ll let us?” Chara asked with a raised brow.

“Well I doubt you’d be able to fight him. She seems to wimpy to do it, and you…” Undyne looked Chara over. “He may not want to fight if he sees you.”

Chara smiled, and then coughed. “Can we get out of here now? The smoke is going to kill me!”

“Uh, yeah that’s probably best!”

* * *

Clover and Luke looked at the burning house while the others listened to Undyne, Chara and Frisk. “Is it just me, or is the house crying?” Clover asked.

“You see it too?” Luke responded. “Thought that was just me.” Luke looked back at the others, and saw a horrifying sight. Alex had a patch of darkness growing on his stomach. “Alex…?”

Alex looked at the spot. “One of the causes of my death.”

“Wait, I thought you froze?” Clover asked.

“I was… It happened so fast…” Alex began crying. The tears were black.

“Oh no! Alex, wait! You don’t have to talk about it!!” Luke rushed over to Alex.

“Alex?” Alyssa looked back and saw the sight. “Alex!!”

Everyone rushed over to Alex, who was benign enveloped in darkness. The same thing that happened with Sam, happened again. This time, The memory moved as if it was a movie. “I was putting away one of my gloves in the box, when a monster snuck up behind me. I got startled, and I quickly made a jab at it.” The images showed Alex punching an Icecap. “I punched too hard, and it died. I got so scared from the scene, that I ran off. The dogs in Snowdin were chasing after me, and I fell into a little crevice. They passed right by me.” The next few images were Alex struggling to get out of the crevice. “It was so cold. I couldn’t feel my arms or legs… Eventually, a monster came over, and helped me out. I was so tired, so I couldn’t see who it was. But they helped me out of the crevice, and looked over my hand. I thought that they were looking at the frostbite, but then I felt a pain in my stomach.”

The world returned to normal, with Alex clutching his stomach. “I didn’t mean to kill them!! I just got careless!!! I was reckless!!! My Dad always told me that, but I never listened!!!”

“Alex, please don’t!” Luke called out.

“I was alone. I was cold. I was scared.” Alex began sobbing as he faded away. **_I w a s s o s c a r e d_ **Alex faded away.

“No… NO!!! NOT AGAIN!!!” Cass began to cry, prompting Alyssa to pull her into a hug.

“God… Damn it!” Clover muttered.

Undyne left the area, and the Dummy nearby looked at the two humans. “What the heck just happened to your friend there?!”

“What do you mean?” Chara asked.

“The little orange kid, he just started crying all of a sudden, and then vanished. I didn’t pay attention to why he was crying, but he was.”

“Wait… Vanished?”

“Gone without a trace!” The dummy said with barely any care. Chara looked out into nothing in result of the news.

“Chara…?”

_“It...It happened again….”_

**_END OF CHAPTER 3_ **


	23. Chapter 4: HOTLAND-1

“So this is Gaster’s lab?” Frisk asked, staring up into the building before them. The large, square metallic structure seemed a bit simple for where Frisk imagined a scientist to work in, with the giant red lights on the sides and occasional tubing looking more in style for one. She fiddled with the faded ribbon that was now tied to her wrist and looked to Chara with a bemused expression. "It looks pretty...Simple..."

“The top part of the lab is less impressive, but the lower level is where it’s really at.” Chara quickly explained. “The first thing I want to ask is a question about the fallen children watching us, and if them fading away is going to cause problems.”

Frisk hummed and nodded. “That does make sense.”

“And then I’m going to ask about the glasses because you can’t keep going without a pair.” Chara added.

“You’re still on that?” Frisk was shocked.

“There’s been multiple times where you missed out on amazing views." Chara deadpanned, before breaking out into a soft chuckle. "Of course I’m going to be still thinking of that.” 

“That’s sweet of you…” Frisk rubbed the back of her head.

Chara smiled. “Let’s head inside, there’s air conditioning.”

_“THANK GOD!”_ Frisk whisper-shouted. The two walked into the building, only to be hit with darkness. Not a lot of darkness, but darkness. In fact, the only light in the building was of the security footage being displayed on a large, sci-fi-esque screen. Frisk looked at the giant image of herself and gained a chill down her spine. “He’s really been watching us the whole time?” She asked.

“Makes sense. Not only are there two humans underground at the same time, but one of them happens to look like the first fallen human. Pretty sure anyone would want to keep tabs on us at all times with that knowledge.” 

“You have a point, but it still feels weird. Like being stalked.”

“He has that effect.” Chara shrugged.

The sound of a door sliding open filled the room. Chara could faintly make out a shape, clapping it’s hands together. In an instant, the lights turned on, revealing a yellow-orange lizard monster in a lab coat. The monster walked towards the humans without taking notice of them, due to it jotting down notes. Still Chara’s first instinct was to block them from Frisk. The monster looked up from it’s notes, and dropped them. They’re mouth was wide open in shock. “Oh. My god…” The monster said.

“Um...Greetings, we’re-”

“I didn’t expect you guys to show up so soon!” The monster was spinning in circles due to panic. “I haven’t showered, I’m barely dressed, everything is a mess and…” The monster stopped and took a few deep breaths, and turned to face the humans.

“You good?” Frisk asked from behind Chara, who eased up a bit.

“Yep. I’m good now!” The monster cleared their throat. “H-h-hiya! I’m Dr. Alphys! I’m Asgore’s Royal Scientist!”

“Wait, I thought-" Frisk quickly stopped after seeing Chara's expression." Chara are you ok?”

Chara.exe has stopped working. Please reboot.

“A-ah yeah, I-I know that might come as a shock since you were expecting a 'Gaster', b-b-but, ahhhh, I’m good at what I do!" Alphys quickly gave a smile, despite the awkward tension that was created. "Any questions you had for him, I could p-probably answer!”

“Well, I’m guessing his first question would be, “What happened to Gaster?”, but why don’t we start off with, 'How much do you know of us?'” Frisk took the initiative, since Chara was still inactive.

“W-w-well..." Alphys gestured to Chara. "I know he is the first fallen human, who somehow came back to life." Alphys tapped her foot nervously. "I-I was hoping we could go back and forth, and hopefully all the questions will be answered.”

“That-That sounds best.” Chara managed to say.

“G-great!” Alphys seemed happy. “Ah, but there is a small problem that could occur during that.”

“And that is?” Chara raised a brow.

“In order to get this position, I made a robot named Mettaton." Alphys tapped her claws together. "He’s a robot with a ‘SOUL’ so, you can imagine how happy Asgore was to hear about that.” Alphys started fidgeting.

“That does sound amazing!” Frisk said, slightly starry eyed.

“It does sound like Royal Scientist material.” Chara nodded.

Alphys blushed. “W-well, I originally made him to be an entertainment robot-”

“Originally?” The two asked in unison.

“Y-yes, well, I figured I’d try to make him more useful with, um,” Alphys faked a cough. “Anti-humancombatfeatures!”

“What?” Chara asked with a hint of malice.

“Ah, b-b-but, when I saw you guys exit the Ruins, and observed your journey, with you newfound friendships, with your way of getting past fights, solving puzzles, I began to realize those features were a mistake!” Alphys quickly defended. “Watching someone on a screen, really makes you root for them.”

“So, I assume those features were removed?” Frisk guessed.

“Well...I tried to, but something went wrong and now he’s-”

“Let me guess, bloodthirsty?” Chara interrupted.

Alphys nodded. “Ah, but don’t worry! I’m sure we won’t run into him!”

Frisk looked at Alphys with concern. “Haven’t you ever heard of a jinx?” The building began to shake. The three looked around as the building shook more and more, Alphys noticed a nearby wall getting cracked. “Oh no.” Alphys muttered.

The wall was destroyed, filling the room with dust and debris. A robotic voice echoed throughout the room. “OHHH YES!!” When their vision was free from the resulting wall dust, the two humans found themselves in front of a buzzer on a counter, with the entire area being gated away by electric fences. “WELCOME BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES…” A light revealed a rectangular box on a wheel with arms. The screen had a red ‘M’ amidst a yellow background, and several dials below it's screen moved around with each word. “TO TODAY’S QUIZ SHOW!!!” Music filled the air, simulating the opening number of a quiz show. The robot, who Frisk and Chara pretty much figured was Mettaton, pulled out a microphone, tapped it, and then drew a robotic breath.

_“~SO WELCOME BACK TO THIS METAL ATTACK_

_WITH TWO HUMANS LOSING THEIR SOULS TONIGHT, THAT’S A FACT!_

_THEY CANNOT SCREAM, THEY CANNOT HOPE OR DREAM_

_TONIGHT’S PROCEEDINGS DO NOT WORK LIKE THAT!_

While Mettaton was rolling around and taunting the two humans musically, Alphys hid behind her hands, blushing furiously. “I’m so sorry!” Mettaton then rolled up to Alphys and pulled her into a half hug and patting her back.

_“GOOD DOCTOR, DO NOT BE!_

_IT’S A CHANCE OF A LIFETIME TO GET TO SEE ME!_

Mettaton then pushed Alphys away, and turned back to Frisk and Chara, who were both watching in confusion and astonishment at the machine. The robot pointed between the two, his screen flashing between red and yellow, before ending in a red exclamation point.

_NOW SIT DOWN LITTLE ONES, THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN!_

_YOU WILL BE LIKE A STAR, THEN YOU’LL BURN LIKE ONE!_

_NOW LET’S SEE MY NAME IN LIGHTS, MY DEARS!_

_YOU’LL WISH YOU’D BE UP THERE WITH ME!_

_HOPE YOU PUT UP A GOOD FIGHT MY DEARS_

_NO ONE’S STOPPED THIS, CELEBRITY!~”_

Mettaton clapped his hands, which rained down confetti on the two humans afterwards, as a pre-recorded audience cheer played in the background. “OH BOY! I CAN TELL THIS IS GOING TO BE A MAGNIFICENT SHOWING! NOT ONLY DO WE HAVE **TWO ** HUMANS ON THE STAGE WITH US TONIGHT, BUT ONE OF THEM DEFIED **DEATH **ITSELF TO JOIN US TODAY!!” A television lowered into view, showing a side by side comparison of Chara, past and present. “THAT’S RIGHT BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES, CHARA DREEMURR, THE FIRST FALLEN HUMAN, AND LATE ADOPTED SON OF KING ASGORE HAS RETURNED FROM THE GRAVE TO APPEAR ON MY SHOW TONIGHT!!”

Chara looked up at the images of himself. “Oh god, are my cheeks actually that rosy?” He patted his face down, feeling a little more self conscious than usual.

“I think it’s cute!” Frisk replied.

“...Thanks.” Chara blushed.

“AS A TREAT FOR OUR FALLEN MAJESTY, HE GETS EXTRA TIME TO ANSWER HIS QUESTIONS!" Mettaton declared, prompting another pre-recorded applause. "THE RULES REMAIN THE SAME HOWEVER! ANSWER CORRECTLY… OR YOU DIE!!” Mettaton's screen flashed continuously resulting in Chara feeling even more pressure, not just from the ‘Answer correctly or die’ statement, but also from the fact that anyone watching was absolutely going to be focusing on Chara’s answers, after Mettaton's announcement. “OUR FIRST QUESTION GOES TO THE MAJESTY’S FRIEND: WHAT’S THE PRIZE FOR ANSWERING CORRECTLY?”

Frisk hummed in thought for a few seconds, mulling over the answers of money, mercy, new car, and more questions. “Is it, Mercy?”

“NOPE!!!” Mettaton raised a finger and zapped Frisk with lightning.

Chara went wide eyed and tried to rush to Frisk's side, only to get stopped by an electric barrier. “FRISK!!!”

“THE ANSWER WAS, MORE QUESTIONS!!” Mettaton rolled over to Chara. “FOR THE HUMAN MAJESTY: WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE MISSING QUEEN?”

Chara rolled his eyes angrily. “Toriel Dreemurr you bucket of bolts!”

“CORRECT, THOUGH I SUPPOSE A QUESTION LIKE THAT FOR THE ADOPTED ROYALTY WOULD BE EASY!!” Mettaton ignored Chara’s rage, and rolled back to Frisk. “FOR YOUR NEXT QUESTION DARLING: WHAT ARE ROBOTS MADE OF?”

“Metal and Magic?” Frisk guessed, still getting over being electrocuted.

“CORRECT!! BACK TO THE MAJESTY: TWO TRAINS, TRAIN A AND TRAIN B, SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPART STATION A AND STATION B. STATION A AND STATION B ARE 252.5 MILES APART FROM EACH OTHER. TRAIN A IS MOVING AT 124.7MPH TOWARDS STATION B, AND TRAIN B IS MOVING AT 253.5MPH TOWARDS STATION A. IF BOTH TRAINS DEPARTED AT 10:00AM AND IT IS NOW 10:03, HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL BOTH TRAINS PASS EACH OTHER?”

Chara's brain seemed to scramble at the question and the speed at which it was told. It didn't help that the timer started after the start. “Um..." Chara mulled over the answers, none of which making any sense to him. "32.049 minutes?”

“INCORRECT, BUT CLOSE!” Mettaton raised a finger and shocked Chara. “THE CORRECT ANSWER WAS 32.058! AGAIN, YOU WERE CLOSE! HAD YOU JUST ADDED 9 MORE TO THE 49..." Mettaton shrugged and turned to Frisk, leaving Chara even more pissed at the robot. "BACK TO THE OTHER HUMAN: HOW MANY FLIES ARE IN THIS JAR?” Mettaton revealed a jar full of flies. Frisk couldn’t take the time to try and count due to her 30 second time limit, so she relied on guessing.

“53?” Frisk guessed with an unknowing shrug.

“OFF BY ONE NUMBER DARLING!” Mettaton electrocuted Frisk again. “CORRECT ANSWER WAS 54! BACK TO OUR MAJESTY, WHO’S LOOKING PARTICULARLY ANGRY-” Chara was giving Mettaton the death glare. “LET’S PLAY A MEMORY GAME: WHICH MONSTER IS THIS?” The television revealed a half faced portrait of a Froggit.

Chara blinked at the image and looked at Mettaton with a blank expression. “Froggit, duh!”

“INCORRECT!!” Mettaton electrocuted Chara. 

“WHAT?!" Both humans shouted. "HOW!?”

“SCREAMING IS AGAINST THE RULES, BUT I’LL LET YOU BOTH OFF WITH A WARNING!" The screen above Mettaton to reveal, Mettaton, wearing a black shirt with Froggit's face on it. "THE CORRECT ANSWER WAS ME!”

Chara gave Mettaton a death glare. “I hate you…”

“BACK TO THE NOT-AS-SIGNIFICANT HUMAN-”

“I really hate you.” Chara muttered.

“SOMETHING I’M SURE EVERYONE IS DYING TO KNOW:" Mettaton relaxed against Frisk's counter, resting his elbows on it and bringing his hands together, like he was ready to spread gossip. "WOULD YOU SMOOCH THE OTHER CONTESTANT?”

“Heck yeah!” Frisk said enthusiastically, whilst giving a thumbs up, which caused Chara's face to go completely red and Alphys casting a knowing look to him.

“GREAT ANSWER, I LOVE IT! AND BY THE LOOKS OF IT, SO DOES OUR MAJESTY! SPEAKING OF WHICH, HIS NEXT QUESTION:" Mettaton wheeled over to Chara's counter. "HOW MANY LETTERS IN THE NAME, METTATONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN-”

Chara stared up at the screen above Mettaton, watching as the last letter in his name kept increasing. He was about to hit the buzzer and guess, when he notice Alphys making the letter 'C' with her hands. He blinked at hit his buzzer. “51?”

“CORRECT!!! OF COURSE THAT WOULD BE EASY FOR YOU!" Mettaton reached behind the counter and ruffled Chara's hair, much to his displeasure. "BACK TO THE OTHER CONTESTANT, WE’RE BREAKING OUT THE BIG GUNS FOR THIS ONE: IN THE DATING SIMULATION VIDEO GAME-" Frisk dropped her head onto the counter and mentally cursed at the topic. “‘MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE’ WHAT IS MEW MEW’S FAVORITE FOOD?”

“Oh, oh! I know this one!!” Alphys suddenly sprung to life. “It’s Snail Ice Cream!! In the fourth chapter everyone goes to the beach and she buys ice cream for all of her friends, but it’s snail flavor and she’s the only one who wants it!!! It’s one of my favorite parts of the game because it’s actually a very powerful message about friendship and-” Mettaton put a hand over her mouth to shut her up.

“ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS…" Mettaton waved a finger in disapproval. "YOU AREN’T…  **HELPING** OUR CONTESTANTS, ARE YOU?”

“What?" Alphys went wide eyed, and started shaking her head furiously. "N-no, I just got excited is all!”

“REALLY, LET’S LOOK BACK AT THE FOOTAGE!” The television went back through all the answers, focusing only on Alphys to reveal that she had been revealing the answers by forming the correct option with her hands..

“I can’t see the cheat anyway without a proper pair of glasses.” Frisk fiddled with the ribbon on her wrist. “So it wouldn't have helped me anyway...”

Mettaton faced Frisk, with the screen lights forming a frown, before he turned back to Alphys. “WELL. WELL WELL WELLY WELL WELL WELLY WELL. SINCE YOU SEEM SO EAGER TO JOIN, I’LL ASK A QUESTION TO BOTH OF THE HUMANS, THAT YOU’LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO:" Mettaton turned to the humans and cleared his robotic throat, before leaning into his mic. _**"**_ ** _WHO DOES DR. ALPHYS HAVE A CRUSH ON?”_ **

“Undyne.” The two answered in sync.

Mettaton stood still for a moment, before giving a robotic chuckle. “SEE ALPHYS, I TOLD YOU IT WAS OBVIOUS!” Mettaton teased Alphys like an old friend, while the scientist blushed and hid behind her hands. “EVEN THE CONTESTANTS FIGURED IT OUT, IN .5 SECONDS OF ME ASKING THE QUESTION!" Mettaton kept chuckling, making Chara and Frisk feel bad for Alphys. "YES, SHE SCRAWLS HER NAME IN THE MARGIN OF HER NOTES, NAMES PROGRAMING VARIABLES AFTER HER, AND SHE EVEN WRITES STORIES OF THEM TOGETHER, SHARING A DOMESTIC LIFE. PROBABILITY OF CRUSH-101 PERCENT.” The lights went back to normal. “WELL, WELL, WELLY, WELL, WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU, THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION. WE CAN’T GO ON LIKE THIS! WORRY NOT HOWEVER, MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS, THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE!! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA, MORE ROMANCE, AND MORE BLOODSHED!!! UNTIL NEXT TIME BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES!!” Mettaton retracts his wheel and arms into his body, and flies off into the ceiling. Frisk and Chara were no longer placed in front of their respective buzzers, and the electric field was disabled.

“Frisk!! Are you alright?” Chara ran up to Frisk and grabbed her by the shoulders in a panic.

“I’m fine, just need some healing.” Frisk pulled out a Sea Tea.

“Good. That’s good.” Chara sighed in relief and took out a Crab Apple.

Alphys was fidgeting in place. “S-s-so, about those questions you guys wanted to ask me?”

* * *

All Alphys had the answer to was some stuff about the two’s journey, and how to get to New Home. Everything else was a dead end. She never heard of Gaster, and it sounded like no one else had either, and that they only figured there was a previous scientist before Alphys thanks to his inventions. She didn’t know if the children's fading would affect anything, but she did say that the SOULS are still kicking, and hadn’t disappeared yet, but the most frustrating one was about the possibility of the SOULS needing to be alive or not. “There’s nothing in our records that say otherwise, but the possibility of that being the case is a slim one. We could try it in practice, but I doubt anyone would be all too happy with having our progress removed.”

“Damn.” Frisk muttered.

“It was a good theory!” Chara reassured, patting Frisk on the shoulder and smiling.

“I was hoping it wouldn't be just ‘theory.’”

“I know, but at least you had the thought. Can’t say the same for anyone else.” Chara stood up and stretched. “Either way, we’re still heading to Dad. We have to get him to stop.” 

“Right!” Frisk stood up as well, and the two made for the exit.

“W-wait!” Alphys called out to them. “Let me give you my phone number! That way, if you need help, I’ll be a ring away!”

“Sounds good!” Chara pulled out the phone, causing Alphys to gawk at it.

“Where’d you get this?”

Chara blinked a few times. “The Ruins...?”

“That explains why it’s so ancient…" Alphys inspected the phone further, getting too close to Chara's personal space. "Is this the only one?”

“Yes?” Chara replied, raising a brow. "Why do you ask?"

“Give it here, I’ll make some upgrades, and make another one for Frisk!” 

“Um...Ok?” Chara handed Alphys the phone, and she went upstairs to work on the upgrades and the new one. Frisk looked downtrodden. “You ok?”

“Yeah. I just…” Frisk sighed. “I assume you already know why I didn’t bring my own phone.”

“I had an idea.” Chara rubbed his arm. 

Frisk sat down against the wall. “I guess I would’ve hurried and grabbed it if I had known I’d end up on a journey like this.”

“Even then, you wouldn’t have brought it. From what you told me back at the Ruins, you wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.” Frisk nodded. Chara sat next to her. “I suppose now might be a good time as any: Why did you go to the mountain first? Why not, go to a friend?”

Frisk sighed. “I didn’t have the heart. Besides, a part of me was angry at her…”

Chara raised a brow. “What happened?” 

“I warned her that our parents were expert liars, and that any child protective service agent would be lied to effortlessly, and without any hints of abuse." Frisk sighed. "But she still sent some. They kept showing up for three days, and each time, I knew who sent them. After the last one, my parents got into their argument…” Frisk hugged her knees. “I guess, a part of me blamed her for it.”

“Frisk-” 

A scream rang out through the building.

“What the hell?!” The two shouted.

“Sorry for the wait!” Alphys came running back. “Here’s the new phones!!” Alphys handed the phones to the two. “There’s texting, portable access to two separate interdimensional boxes, one you currently have access to, and one exclusive to the phone, they have key chains, and I signed you up for the underground’s #1 social network!” Alphys handed them each a slip of paper, no doubt being passwords to the log in. “Now we’re officially friends!!”

“Thank you!" Frisk said to the scientist, before punching in the information. "Let me see if I can find the others so I can add them to the list!”

Alphys nodded. “Of course!”

_Ring...Ring…_

Chara checked his phone, seeing that Papyrus had offered a friend request. “Looks like Papyrus found me.” Chara hit accept, when another request came up. "Oh, this one is from Sans!" Chara quickly accepted the other skeleton's request.

_Ring...Ring…_

Frisk looked at her phone. “They found me too!” She started accepting them. “MK has one too! Even Napstablook sent on-huh?" Frisk raised a brow to her screen, where Napstablook's request had already rejected itself." That’s odd. _Then I’ll just hit back with my own!”_ Frisk was pretty much done after sending one to Napstablook over and over again. Chara however…

_Ring...Ring...Ring...Ring…_

“I don’t even know half of these people!!” Chara stared at his phone in a panic, before planting it on his face in a huff. “God damn it Mettaton!!”

Alphys rubbed the back of her head. “W-well, not all of that is M-M-ettaton’s fault…”

Frisk looked towards the scientist with a raised brow. “What are you saying?”

“I m-may or may not have p-posted that you were a-a-alive, with videos of you walking around Snowdin and Waterfall.” Alphys shifted nervously.

  
Chara looked at her with disbelief. _“This is going to be a nightmare…”_ He whispered.


	24. Tensions Rising. (Chapter 4: HOTLAND-1.5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We will now pause, for a brief intermission.

For once, Undyne was happy Papyrus basically forced her into watching Mettaton’s show! And not just because Mettaton aired Alphys’ crush on Undyne. Thank god Mettaton is the type of person who’d abuse the fact Chara was alive for views! Maybe their eventual encounter with Asgore will turn out smoother if word gets around. Besides, Chara had Undernet now, so she could keep up with their progress through Papyrus, who was currently, in a fit of panic. “WHAT IF HE GETS OVERRUN WITH MONSTERS ASKING QUESTIONS!? WHAT IF HE BECOMES HATED AFTER CONFRONTING ASGORE ABOUT HIS BARRIER PLAN?! SOMETHING ABOUT THIS JUST DOESN’T SEEM RIGHT!!”

“If you ask me, having the punk’s identity revealed is a good thing!" Undyne patted Papyrus' back with a bit too much force, nearly knocking the skeleton over. "If Asgore finds out, he could interject with whatever Mettaton tries to do to him. Heck, maybe getting through Hotland will be a breeze!”

“i doubt that.” Sans said, walking from the kitchen.

Undyne looked to Sans, furrowing her brow. “And why’s that?”

“alphys had been posting videos of the kid’s journey. the king would’ve stopped you at the entrance to hotland.”

“That’s…" Undyne raised a finger to counter, but soon brought it to her chin as she hummed. "Actually a good point.”

“MAYBE HE DIDN’T HEAR ABOUT IT!” Papyrus guessed.

“no, rumor’s spread fast down here. something’s going on…” Sans walked outside.

“Well, Asgore isn’t all that tech savvy, and hearing that one of his kids came back to life would sound like a sick joke.” Undyne reasoned.

“I’M STILL WORRIED…”

“Chara and Frisk will be fine Papyrus. They suffered worse.”

“NOT FOR THEM. FOR SANS… HE’S HIDING SOMETHING. I CAN TELL.”

* * *

Frisk stared out towards the conveyor belts just up ahead. She looked Chara in the eye, raising a brow, to which he responded with a simple shrug. "Don't ask me, this is a new one."

Frisk chuckled. "Finally, something you don't know the answer to!" She raised her arms in victory. "Finally, I can actually wonder!"

Chara laughed at Frisk enthusiasm to him not having the answers. "Hey, you had plenty of chances to cheer during the quiz!"

"Ah, but the quiz wasn't wholly underground related!" Frisk quickly shot back. Chara smiled and conceded, and the two stepped onto the conveyor belts. "I will say, this is more convenient." Frisk looked around the scenery, which wasn't anything impressive, which was expected for a volcanic location. The only notable thing to look at were the pipes spewing out the occasional blue flame, and the monster going down the opposite conveyor belt. Frisk went wide eyed. "Wait, what was that?!" Frisk pointed to the monster to Chara, which looked like a mini, walking volcano.

"Oh, that's a Vulkin." Chara simply said. "They're pretty docile and only really want affection, but since they're basically a mini-volcano, you get burned if you hug them."

Frisk tilted her head and shrugged. "I'd still hug it."

"Of course you would." Chara rolled his eyes. The two stepped off the conveyor belt and walked along the path, only to come face to face with another conveyor belt ride, this one being less linear and more zig zaggy. They stepped on anyways, because it's their only way forward, with the two guards blocking the path nearby the entrance to the lab. Once they stepped off, their phones buzzed.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: gonna call them in a minute!!! =^.^=**

"She updates way to frequently..." Frisk muttered.

"Almost constantly, but this time it's a blessing." Chara stated, trying to keep himself from falling to his knees. "That last conveyor belt was a bit too fast, despite the safety hazards." He took in a few deep breaths, with Frisk patting his back. Eventually he recovered and glanced back at the construct. "The sad thing is, that doesn't tell if it's post-Gaster, since he never really bothered with safety precautions."

Frisk stared blankly at Chara. "And he was a scientist?" Chara only nodded and the two left the conversation at that. They walked down the metallic piping and stumbled across a SAVE point. At this point, it was burned into their brains to interact with them.

**_The whooshing sounds of steam and cogs...It fills you HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

* * *

Luke looked out to the scenery. Hotland hadn’t changed at all since he was here. He was anxious. Everyone was. Not only of which one of them is the next to fade away, but also because Chara being alive was announced to the whole underground. How is that going to affect their confrontation with Asgore? In fact, why hadn’t Asgore done something already?

“You think Flowey has something to do with this?” Clover asked.

“Why is that your first go-to?” Alyssa replied.

“Think about it, he can travel anywhere he wants to. He could easily go to Asgore and whisper things. Things that would make Asgore refuse to intervene.”

“That does make sense, but anyone could do that, it’s not just Flowey.” Alyssa shot back. "You have to realize, Chara's death also costed the prince's life, so some monsters may not be too happy with him back and not Asriel."

“Maybe he just doesn’t want to believe.” Cass guessed.

“Why do you say that?” Luke asked.

“If I was him, and I heard one of my kids was alive, after years of believing they were dead, I’d block out any belief. Especially after declaring war on humanity, which Chara is a part of.” Cass explained.

Everyone went silent. Luke didn’t even gasp when Chara and Frisk found his Frying Pan. Clover sighed. “Yeah, that...That makes even more sense.”

“What if it’s both?” Luke suggested.

“Hmm?” The others collectively hummed.

“What if he did hear about Chara, but then Flowey went and convinced Asgore that it wasn’t true. That he simply tricked himself into believing. That Chara coming back is just a delusion. And even if he was alive again, why would Chara want to even look at him after what he did?” Luke explained, in a depressing tone. “There’s so many reasons why Asgore hasn't done anything.” Everyone went silent again. Clover bit they’re lip, and lowered their hat to cover the frustration in their eyes. There were so many reasons, and all of them were depressing.

* * *

Toriel sat by the door to Snowdin. She was worried, but she needed to trust Chara. He could convince Asgore to stop. But there were many dangers. If word got out that he was alive, what would happen? Chara is no Asriel, so monsters may ignore his history and attack him for the sake that he was human. They could attack him, since Asriel’s death was, in a way, in his hands. There were so many dangers, but she needed to trust Chara. He could do it. He had to. She needed to believe in him, but she could not for the life of her, feel as though her staying behind, and not joining the two, was a mistake.

* * *

Sans stood in a golden hallway, looking out the windows. The sun was beginning to go down. When was the last time those kids slept? Two days ago? That sounds about right. The further Chara went into the underground, the more Sans wished he asked Gaster about the events that are currently happening. The word about Chara’s revival is out now. So what happens next? Sans really didn’t like thinking that Gaster was right all along, but the further things escalated, the more he wished he actually listened to his old man. He had so many questions. Questions Gaster would’ve answered in a heartbeat. Now it’s a waiting game. He sighed, and walked further in. Into the throne room, where Asgore solemnly looked to the sky.

“so…” Sans didn’t know how to phrase this. “about chara…”

“I can’t...I won’t…” Asgore muttered.

“c’mon, this is a good thing. i told you this last time. guess what? that’s all the underground is talking about now.” Sans explained. “everyone’s already on board with the idea of him being alive. the kid even has his own undernet profile. there’s several factors that prove he’s alive. why don’t you believe them?”

“Because it sounds too good to be true!” Asgore cried out. “I’ve had dreams about this moment. Whether it was Asriel, Chara or both. But each one was just a dream. A silly dream. Besides, even if it were true, why would he want to see me? I have no doubt that he’s heard of what I had declared.”

“i’ll tell you why, so he can tell you to stop. tell you that we can let the souls go. to tell you that everything can start over. that the underground can wait a little longer to be free. hell, the kid might prove that we don’t need to be free.” Sans replied.

Asgore sighed. “If you don’t mind. I’d like to be alone. I’ll leave a note explaining the situation. Everyone will understand.”

It was Sans’ turn to sigh, and it was one of frustration. “you’ve dreamed about this moment, yet you won’t even confirm it. sounds like someone i know. he was a real pain in the ass sometimes too.” Sans left. Through a shortcut (obviously) Sans went to Grillby’s. He entered the building and kept quiet, leaving everyone pretty worried. Well, everyone except Grillby, who looked at Sans like a father would to their kid saying they ran into their school bully.

“Single or double shot?” Grillby asked Sans.

Sans lazily looked up at the perpetually burning barkeep. “i’ll take the whole bottle.”

“This is even more serious then.” Grillby grabbed a bottle from the top shelf, and handed it to Sans. “Is he still being stubborn?”

“i thought i was apathetic.” Sans replied. “although, that might be the wrong word in this case.” Sans opened the bottle and took a drink.

“While I understand why he refuses to believe it, a part of me is curious as to why he doesn’t confirm it.” Grillby began cleaning a glass.

“you and me both grillbz.” Sans took another sip. “you and me both.”

* * *

“Golly, this is even better than I thought!” Flowey said to himself. “Chara’s out there, risking his life to get to Asgore, and he doesn’t even believe the news is real!!” Flowey howled with laughter. “I thought I had to intervene after that dumb robot and screw-up decided to spill the beans, but he’s doing the job himself for me!” Flowey laughed even more. 

“Getting those SOULS will be a cinch! And since those children are screwing themselves over, they’ll be easy to manipulate!!” Flowey paused. “Well, except Clover. It was so surprising to see how fast they began to catch on to my antics. But can they blame me? Seeing them befriend so many monsters, hardly ever using that gun of theirs, only to go back and tell them that everyone but me was guilty, and needed to be dusted!! It was too funny!!! Now they think they can feign ignorance...Golly, it’s almost as if they’re challenging me to make them spill the beans.” Flowey hummed in thought, before burrowing under.

He popped back up, hidden well enough that Chara or the children couldn’t see him. It seemed Mettaton was trying to get Chara to bake something. _Big mistake! They’re too stupid! They can’t even tell the difference between cups of butter and Buttercups!!_ Flowey looked over to Clover, who was beginning to look anxious. They were just close enough that no one but them could hear a whisper. _“You’ll be next. Don’t think feigning ignorance will save you. They’ll find out what you did, and you’ll wish you had done more than just turn that gun on yours-”_ Clover took out their revolver, aiming at Flowey.

_“You could see us all along…”_ Clover hissed.

Flowey grinned at the yellow glowing ghost. _“Your time is running out. You’ll fade next.”_

Clover tightened their grip. _“They’ll understand. It was your fault.”_ Clover’s voice shook.

_“All I did was give a slight push! You had a choice not to listen to me, yet you did! You killed so many of them. O V E R A N D O V E R!!”_

_“It was your fault…!”_

Flowey grinned his smug grin. _“What do you think is going to happen when Chara reaches Asgore? The king absolutely refuses to believe he’s living.”_ Flowey’s face twisted itself into a version of Asgores. _“What do you think he’ll do when he finds out Chara was alive the whole time, and risked his life to reach him?”_ The face distorted. It now looked like Asgore’s, but less...Alive, less hopeful. 

_“So you did have something to do with it!”_ Clover strained their voice.

_“That old fool is doing it to himself!!! He’s forcing himself to believe Chara’s still dead!! After all, something like that is only a fantasy!!!”_ Flowey laughed, and everyone noticed. Mettaton was looking around the set like something had been broken, while Chara, Frisk and the other children were looking right at the source, to which Flowey burrowed immediately afterwards.

“Clover?” Cass was concerned.

“Flowey...He...Could see us the entire time…”

* * *

Papyrus walked through Snowdin forest, checking on his puzzles. Making sure the spikes were well oiled, finding a way to feed that mouse the spaghetti, and even walking up to the door Sans like to spend so much time around. He always thought about maybe knocking on it himself, to see what made it so special, but he never did have the time.

_“Psst!”_

“FLOWEY?” Papyrus turned around to see the golden flower below him. “FLOWEY! IT’S BEEN AWHILE!! HOW’VE YOU BEEN?”

“I’ve been just swell. I’ve got a bit of news for ya! It’s about king Asgore, and Chara.” Flowey said with an innocent smile.

“WOWIE!! DID THE KING FINALLY REACH OUT?!” Papyrus laid on the snow so he could be at eye level with the plant.

“Not exactly. It’s about WHY the king doesn’t help Chara.” Flowey replied.

“AND THE REASON?” 

“Haven’t you noticed? The king has completely given up on humanity!! He’s going all out, meaning Chara won’t be helped.”

Papyrus looked skeptical. “THAT’S NOT FUNNY FLOWEY.”

Flowey tilted his head and grinned. “It’s the truth. If the king wanted to help, he'd have done so way earlier."

Papyrus took a moment to absorb what Flowey was proposing. That Asgore wouldn't help Chara, because he no longer cared. After a few moments Papyrus stood up. “NO.”

“No?”

“NO. I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT! EVERYONE HAS GOOD IN THEM, AND ASGORE IS FILLED WITH THAT GOODNESS. HE WOULDN’T HARM CHARA, OR FRISK!”

Flowey rolled his beady eyes and stared smugly at Papyrus. “But what about the other children?”

“YOU MEAN THE OTHER SOULS?" Papyrus raised a brow ridge and hummed in thought. "MOST OF THEM WERE TAKEN BY OTHER MEMBERS OF THE GUARD. ASGORE DIDN’T DO ANYTHING TO THEM!”

“You know what I meant. The ghosts.” Papyrus froze. “They’re remembering how they died. How they truly died, the further they go on their journey. The king isn’t as nice as you think he is.” Flowey’s voice became sinister. “In fact, I think your dear brother might have ran into one of them, once upon a time.”

“FLOWEY, THIS ISN’T FUNNY.” Papyrus refused to look at the flower.

“I’m just saying, everyone has a dark side! The fact that the king hasn’t helped his dear son is proof of that!”

“THEN DO YOU?” Papyrus asked, still not looking at Flowey.

Flowey was taken aback. “What?” 

“IF EVERYONE HAS A DARK SIDE. THEN DOES THAT MEAN YOU HAVE ONE AS WELL?”

“W-well…” _Damn it! I wasn’t expecting this!_ “Okay, maybe not everyone.”

“THEN THAT JUST PROVES MY POINT!! EVERYONE CAN BE GOOD IF THEY TRY!! ASGORE WILL HELP CHARA AND FRISK, AND HE CAN BE CONVINCED TO STOP HIS ATTACK ON HUMANITY!!”

Flowey’s face went sinister, and he summoned a barrage of bullets. “Listen here you idiot!! You're talking to the god of this world!!! Once Asgore guts himself like a pig, nothing can stop that fact!! YOU’VE BEEN SO EAGER TO LISTEN UNTIL NOW BUT THAT JUST MEANS I CAN KILL YOU WITH NO REGRETS!!!!” Papyrus summoned a Rapier in his right hand, and a couple of giant looming draconic skulls behind him. Flowey withdrew his pellets after seeing Papyrus putting on a serious face, his eyes nearly devoid of joy. “I-uh-Thought that bone was needed to summon those.” Flowey pointed a leaf to the blasters

“PARTIALLY CORRECT. THEY REALLY HELP KEEP THEM FOCUSED ON A SINGULAR- HEY WAIT A MINUTE!” Papyrus stopped and focused his attention solely on Flowey. “LISTEN HERE, YOU CAN BE BETTER THAN WHATEVER THAT OUTBURST WAS. HOWEVER, I THINK IT'S BEST IF WE DIDN’T SEE EACH OTHER UNTIL THEN. I WILL ALSO TELL SANS ABOUT THIS. I THINK HE DESERVES TO KNOW TO LOOK OUT FOR YOU, JUST IN CASE.”

Flowey’s face twisted. “Fine then! See where you get without me!! I’ll tell you this though, it’s not with the guard!! A weakling bonehead like you would never last a day with them!!!” Flowey burrowed beneath the ground. Papyrus looked heartbroken. He withdrew the blasters, and sighed.

_“EVERYONE CAN BE GOOD. THEY JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE.”_ Papyrus looked over to the door again, and decided to head over there. He looked the door over, and gave a knock. After a minute, he knocked again. “HOW DOES HE DO THIS…” Papyrus began thinking aloud. Before he could proceed, a knock came from within. “HELLO?”

_“Greetings. I’m sorry, I was so used to hearing someone ask ‘knock knock’ that I didn’t think to answer until you spoke.”_ A voice within said.

“AH THAT’S WHAT SANS DOES!!” Papyrus seemed joyful, before slumping against the door. “HE ALWAYS LIKED COMING HERE BUT I NEVER COULD, FOR THE LIFE OF ME, FIGURE OUT WHY?”

_“Oh, are you perhaps his brother?! He speaks very highly of you!”_

“OF COURSE HE WOULD! I AM VERY GREAT AFTER ALL…” Papyrus boasted, before he paused, and sighed. “I HAVE A QUESTION.”

_“And what would that be?”_

“DO YOU THINK ANYONE COULD BE GOOD? IF THEY JUST TRY? NO MATTER THEIR MISTAKES?”

_“Why do you ask?”_

“WELL, I HAD A BIT OF A FIGHT WITH A FRIEND, WHO SAID THAT EVERYONE HAD A DARK SIDE TO THEM." Papyrus explained the best he could, without divulging too much into Flowey. "HE SAID THAT THE KING WOULDN’T HELP HIS SON, JUST BECAUSE OF HIS DECLARED WAR…”

_“Asgore knows of Chara?”_ The voice asked, shocked.

“EVERYONE KNOWS AT THIS POINT. IT WAS ANNOUNCED ON TODAY’S MTT QUIZ SHOW, WHICH HE WAS A CONTESTANT ON. EXCEPT, THAT BEGAN GIVING ME AND MY FRIENDS QUESTIONS. SANS SEEMS TO HAVE A CLUE, BUT HE DOESN’T WANT TO REVEAL IT.”

_“How can you be sure he knows?”_

“I HAVE TALENT FOR KNOWING WHEN SOMETHING’S WRONG WITH HIM.” Papyrus sighed, and hugged his legs. “SOMETHING IS GOING ON. SOMETHING, STRANGE. I HAVE TO BE HONEST. I’M SCARED.” The voice behind the door remained silent. “SCARED THAT MAYBE, MY FRIEND WAS RIGHT. THAT CHARA WON’T BE ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO THE KING TO STOP HIS PLAN. SCARED THAT WE’LL SEE THE SURFACE, AT THE COST OF-”

_“Yes.”_

“NYEH?”

_“My answer to your question earlier. If they just try. They can be good.”_

“I SEE." Papyrus nodded somberly. "THANK YOU.”

_“Can you do me a favor?”_

“OF COURSE!”

_“Wait there for a bit.”_

“UM… OK?” 

* * *

Sans walked up to the door, a bit sloppily, thanks to a few bottles of booze from Grillby's slowing him down even more, only to see Papyrus waiting next to it. “hey paps.” Sans waved.

“SANS! WHERE’D YOU GO?”

“i just needed to talk to someone. i went to grillby’s afterwards.” Sans sat down next to Papyrus. “something wrong?”

“REMEMBER WHEN I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT FLOWER?”

“yeah?”

“HE SAID SOMETHING AWFUL. HE SAID ASGORE WOULDN’T HELP CHARA BECAUSE OF HIS WAR WITH HUMANITY. HE STARTED SAYING THAT YOU DID SOMETHING BAD…”

Sans' eye sockets went completely black. “paps-”

“HIS NAME IS FLOWEY. HE LOOKS LIKE A GOLDEN FLOWER. I THINK IT’S BEST IF WE AT LEAST KEEP AN EYE OUT. HE SEEMED...UNHINGED.”

Sans blinked in surprise, but then nodded. “sounds good. by the way, whatcha doing here?”

“THE PERSON BEHIND THE DOOR TOLD ME TO WAIT RIGHT HERE.”

“why?” The answer to his question made itself known, when the doors to the Ruins opened up slightly. A robed monster walked out, holding a pie tin.

“I’m terribly sorry for the wait!” Papyrus and Sans looked at the monster, who looked like a female version of the king. “Would you like a slice of pie?”

“THAT...SOUNDS LOVELY.”

Sans shrugged. “i don’t see why not.”


	25. Chapter 4: HOTLAND-2

_“U-um, so the blue lasers won’t hurt you, if you’re not moving, b-but the o-orange ones y-you have to be moving in order to...To uh… Anyway, move through the orange ones! Bye!”_ Alphys hung up.

Frisk put away her phone. “She seems really nervous.”

“After what Mettaton did, I’d be a nervous wreck too.” Chara replied, moving through the orange lasers. “That was kind of a dick move on his part.”

“True, but she seemed really calm when answering our questions.” Frisk mentioned.

“Until we asked for the glasses after she gave us the phones. I wonder why she won’t let us down there…” Chara stopped near the blue laser, in which the phones buzzed to life.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: OMG I DID IT!!! claws haven’t shook like that since undyne called about the weather… V.V**

“She can’t be serious…” Chara muttered. Frisk made her way to where Chara was standing when their phones buzzed to life once again.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: WAIT THERE’S NO WEATHER DOWN HERE WHY DID SHE CALL ME**

“I think she is.” Frisk replied.

Chara sighed and facepalmed. “Wow…” The two pressed on, staying still for the blue lasers so they could pass through the orange ones. When they reached the end, a glowing red button on a nearby pole prompted Chara press it, turning the button green and powering down the lasers. "That takes care of those."

"I wonder how the monsters here are dealing with the puzzles, because people other than us would have to pass through here, right?" Frisk asked as they walked away from the deactivated lasers.

"I'm not sure." Chara replied. "I think they'd have to-" Before Chara could finish, their phones buzzed, again.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: oh my god i Forgot to Tell THem Where To Go**

**CHARA DREEMURR Replied: Did you forget about the part where I already know where?**

**ALPHYS Replied: oh right…**

**FRISKY BITS Replied: Honest mistake!! ^.^**

Chara raised a brow at Frisk's profile name. “What the hell is your name?”

“One I used on the surface. Felt more natural…” Frisk shrugged.

Chara hummed. “Anyway the northern door should be-And it’s locked.” Chara stood in place, eyeing the door up ahead, which would occasionally be blocked by the steam airing out from the vents at small intervals.

Frisk stared at the door as well, though it was a blurry mess, and then tilted her head. “Is there a way to unlock it?” 

“If we do the puzzles on the right and left it should open the door.” Chara explained, pointing to the left and right respectively. "Hotland is full of them, since Gaster, like Papyrus, was a puzzle maniac."

“do you know what the puzzles are?”

“No idea." Chara answered honestly. "The lasers were new, and most of the puzzles were deactivated when me and Asriel would wonder around here for our safety.”

After a few seconds of silence, the two humans groaned. “Mettaton.”

“I’ll take the left, you take the right.” Frisk offered.

“If you get into a fight, try to run.” Chara simply replied. "I'm pretty sure I don't need to explain why, right?"

Frisk rolled her eyes and chuckled. “I kinda figured I'd need to run. You're practically my encyclopedia.”

Chara smiled and walked up to the vent, which had a glowing that changed direction after each blast of steam, pointing to the door, the left and right and back the way the two came from. Chara stepped on the moment the arrow faced the right and the blast of steam vaulted him over the gap, and placed him on the path. He took a few steps, before his phone buzzed, revealing a picture of a garbage can with several, glittery pink filters on it.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: CUte PIC OF ME RIGHT NOW ^.^**

**COOLSKELETON95 Replied: That is a trash can…**

**CHARA DREEMURR Replied: That’s the joke Paps…**

**COOLSKELETON95 Replied: I don’t get it.**

_It's best if I don't explain it._ Chara thought to himself as he walked down the path to the first puzzle. Sitting by the entrance were a couple of monsters, one looking like a business man while the other less casual one drinking a coffee, discussing Mettaton's show.

_“I had time to catch Mettaton’s show, since the way to work is blocked off. Was that really the first fallen human?”_ The business dressed monster asked his fellow monster, who scoffed.

_“Come on man, everyone knows how good special effects are getting nowadays!”_ The other monster replied before taking a swig of his drink. _"There's no way that was the first fallen human!_

_"But then why say it was? Isn't that immoral?"_ The business monster asked, earning a shrug in response.

_"A lot of Mettaton's shows are based off of human ones, so maybe it's a human thing."_

_So not everyone believes it… That’s, not that surprising, but at the very least, it means I can walk around some places without getting bombarded._ Chara thought to himself, heading into the puzzle room. His phone buzzed but he chose to leave it alone, especially since the sight of a floating fox head trying the puzzle out themselves. The monster fired the video game-esque bullet twice destroying two boxes, but not getting the ship at the opposite end.

"I swear, this puzzle is impossible?" The monster muttered to themselves.

"Having trouble?" Chara asked, getting the monsters attention.

The monster nodded. "The door leading through the area is close? So I tried the puzzle? But I kept running out of ammo, and it kept restarting?" The monster sighed and pointed their nose outside, towards the two relaxing monsters. "And my two co-workers won't help?" The monster shook their head, which meant they shook their whole body(?) "It's like they don't eve wanna go to work?"

"I'm shocked." Chara deadpanned before going to the puzzle controls. There was a button to fire the weapon, but also a joystick that Chara quickly learn moved the boxes. He moved one box out of the way, and fired the ship, destroying the next box, and fired again to destroy the opposing ship. A cheery sound rang out as a congratulation appeared where the opposing ship used to be. Chara looked at the monster and smirked. "Got it!"

"Wow? You solved it?" The monster floated up to see the message and looked to Chara with a nod. "I'm impressed? You must be a total nerd?"

Chara shrugged and left the room. "You wouldn't be wrong about that." Chara left the three co-workers to decided if they want to actually go to work or not, and went to wait for Frisk by the door, only to see that Frisk was already waiting for him. He rode the vents to the door, which was opened right behind Frisk. “How’d you get here before me?” Chara asked when he landed near.

“Shortcut!” Frisk grinned.

“I’m telling Sans you stole his trick!”

Frisk put her hand to her chest and let out a fake gasp. “How dare?” The two laughed. “The puzzle was easy to figure out. The only issue was a blue laser that Alphys had to disable.”

“Still impressive that you beat me to the punch here.” 

Frisk shrugged. “Let’s move on!”

* * *

After the duo rode some more vents, they entered a pitch black room. Chara tried to feel around with his hands, and felt a countertop, prompting him to raise a brow. “Where are we?” The lights flicked on, to reveal a kitchen set. “Oh no…”

“OHHHH YESSS!!!" Mettaton rose up from behind the counter, somehow avoiding the two's detection until now, and faced a camera positioned in front of them. "WELCOME BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND’S PREMIERE COOKING SHOW: _COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!!”_ More prerecorded audience applause rang out.

Chara facepalmed. “Oh for the love of-”

“PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE GOT A SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TONIGHT!!" Mettaton announced to the at home audience. "WE’RE GOING TO BE BAKING A CAKE!!!”

_“Oh no, why baking?”_ Chara whispered to himself.

“AS I’M SURE SOME OF YOU OLDER VIEWERS ARE AWARE: OUR YOUNG HUMAN PRINCE WAS RAISED BY A FANTASTIC BAKER, SO THEY OBVIOUSLY HAVE HAD TO PICK UP ON THOSE SKILLS!!” Mettaton ruffled Chara's hair, which didn't help Chara's confidence.

_“Why am I the one in the spotlight?”_ Chara whispered again, prompting a sympathetic shoulder pat from Frisk.

“OUR LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS, WHILE THE PRINCE AND I WILL GO OVER THE PROCESS!!”

“I’ll be quick about it!” Frisk reassured Chara.

“Please do...” Chara reluctantly stood next to Mettaton.

“WE’LL NEED MILK, SUGAR, AND EGGS!!”

“On it!” Frisk went to grab the items.

“I’M SURE OUR OLDER VIEWERS ARE KEENLY AWARE, BUT THE MISSING QUEEN WAS A MASTER AT BAKING PIES! WITH OUR YOUNG, FRESHLY REVIVED PRINCE BEING RAISED BY HER FOR A PERIOD OF TIME, HE’LL NO DOUBT HAVE HAD PICKED UP THOSE SKILLS!!”

Chara looked away for a few seconds. _I most certainly did not._

* * *

“We’re out of butter…” Chara muttered as he closed the fridge door.

“What?! But we’ve had everything else! How’d we run out of butter?!” Asriel started panicking.

“Calm down, we’ll think of something…” Chara began thinking. “How far away is the grocery store?

“Pretty far…” Asriel said, defeated.

“Dang!”

“What do we do now?” Asriel looked at the other ingredients.

Chara hummed in thought as he looked over the recipe. This needed to work! It’s been months, and he hadn’t repaid the Dreemurr’s kindness yet! He needed this to be special! He looked at the recipe up and down, looking to see if it had any alternatives to cups of butter. _Cups of butter...cups of butter...Butter cups….Buttercups?_ “Do you think Buttercups would work?”

“The flower?!” Asriel was VERY concerned.

“Hear me out, everything down here works differently than on the surface, but even then, some plants can be used for making food! Since everything down here is magic or something, who’s to say it wouldn’t work?”

Asriel rubbed his chin. “I guess that makes sense. Dad has a few growing in the garden.”

“Perfect! We’ll get this done in no time!” Chara held out a fist, which Asriel promptly bumped. “Now let’s make a pie!!”

"YEAH!!"

* * *

 _Oh god now that I think about it more, I was a goddamn idiot…_ Chara was brought out of his thoughts when Frisk set the ingredients onto the counter.

“Here’s everything!” Frisk leaned into Chara. _“I’m concerned. The milk and eggs weren’t in the fridge.”_

“PERFECT!! GREAT JOB, DARLING!!! WE’VE GOT ALL THE INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO BAKE THAT CAKE!!” Mettaton clapped his hands, prompting another prerecorded audience clapping along to go with it. Mettaton stopped suddenly. “OH WAIT, HOW COULD I FORGET!!! WE’RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!!”

“And that is?” Frisk asked.

Mettaton reached down behind the counter and pulled out a chainsaw. He started it up and then faced the two humans. “A HUMAN SOUL!!”

Frisk blinked in shock. “Say what?!” She ended up frozen in shock as Mettaton slowly wheeled over and lifted the chainsaw above his body.

Chara quickly blocked Frisk from Mettaton. “Now hold on!!!”

“WHAT IS IT, YOUR HUMAN MAJESTY?” Mettaton lowered the chainsaw casually, resting his hands on the bottom.

“Y-you’re the only one who has access to that! W-what about the people at home, who don’t have a human SOUL with them?” 

_“Nice one!”_ Frisk whispered.

_"Thanks!"_ Chara whispered back.

Mettaton hummed in robotic thought. “I SUPPOSED THAT MAKES SENSE. THANKFULLY, MTT BRAND ALWAYS HAS A WAY!!!" A small TV lowered next to Mettaton. "WHAT WITH OUR, MTT-BRAND-ALWAYS-CONVENIENT-HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVORED-SUBSTITUTE!!” The TV showed a red container with the image of a human SOUL with the exacts words labelled on it.

“That’s a thing?!” The two asked dumbfounded.

“INDEED IT IS, DARLINGS!! IN FACT, WE HAVE ONE ON THE COUNTER OVER THERE!!” Mettaton pointed to a shelf that had the exact container on it. “WHY NOT LET OUR ASSISTANT GET THAT FOR US?”

“U-um, ok?” Frisk walked over to the container, only for the shelf to extend to over 35ft high. “What the hell?”

“TICK-TOCK DARLING, WE HAVE A SCHEDULE TO KEEP. IF YOU DON’T GET IT WITHIN THE MINUTE, WE’RE GOING BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN.”

Chara pinched his nose and angrily sighed. “You just thrive on misery don’t you?”

Mettaton looked to Chara with a question mark appearing on his screen. “WHY DO YOU ASK?”

“No reason...” Chara clenched his fists. Frisk took a quick phone call, which ended with her pressing a button, and a jetpack forming from the phone, and latching onto her back. Chara and Mettaton looked at the scene in silence. _Well...That’s a thing…_

Frisk flew down and ran back to the counter with the container. “Got it!”

“IMPRESSIVE! NOW THE FIRST STEP IS TO-”

A laugh rang throughout the studio. Mettaton looked around wildly, while Frisk and Chara saw the source. Flowey was watching them. He burrowed beneath the set. _“That damn weed…”_ Chara whispered.

“WELL THAT WAS ODD. ANYWAY, BACK TO THE CAKE!” The rest of the proceedings went about as normal as one would expect from a cooking show. Chara added the substitute, which was just vanilla extract, and began mixing all the ingredients together. Thank god Mettaton didn’t mention the pie incident. When all was said and done, the cake came out of the oven and the two humans had a plate. 

Chara pierced the slice of cake with a fork and ripped it off to take a bite. The cake was airy and fluffy, with a nice touch of vanilla to it thanks to the 'substitute'. “Not bad!”

“Needs icing though.” Frisk suggested.

“WE RAN OUT UNFORTUNATELY…” Mettaton replied. “BUT HOPEFULLY OUR VIEWERS AT HOME HAVE SOME ON HAND!! CAKE ALWAYS TASTES BATTER WITH ICING!!" Mettaton said enthusiastically, earning a nod from both Chara and Frisk. "ANYWAY FOLKS. THAT WAS: _COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT!_ SEE YOU NEXT TIME, SAME CHANNEL AS ALWAYS MY BEAUTIES!!!” Mettaton flew out of the room.

Chara set down his plate. “Flowey was watching us…”

Frisk jabbed at her cake with her fork, but then set it down next to Chara's. “What was that laugh for?”

“He knows about me and the Dreemurr’s, so chances are, he laughed about the pie incident…”

Frisk leaned against the counter. “What’s with him?...”

“I want to know that too.” Chara made his way to the exit of the stage, and spotted a SAVE point. The two touched their hands to it, letting Flowey’s sudden appearance not shake them. Chara looked out into the distance, at the massive structure looming before all of Hotland. “The CORE.”

Frisk looked where Chara was. Even with faulty eyesight, even she could tell that the structure was a behemoth to behold. A massive monolith sitting atop a lake of lava, made up of twisting pipes and cables, with a low roar coming from it's direction, as it seemed to blanket the whole of Hotland. “Damn…”

“All of the underground’s power comes from that lone structure, and no one even remembers the man who built it.” Chara kicked the ground. “Why did Dad need to hire a new Royal Scientist? What happened to Gaster?”

“It does sound strange. But maybe there was a good reason.”

“Maybe.” The two continued down the path, each one hugging themselves for warmth, despite being in a place like Hotland. The further they went, the colder it got. Something wasn’t right about this. They reached an elevator, where a lone, grey figure stood, staring down into an object in their hands. “Is that…” Chara approached the figure. Frisk hid behind Chara just in case, but the monster only looked at them, and smiled, which was pure white against the void black face they had.

“Alphys may work faster, but the old Royal Scientist, Doctor W.D. Gaster? One day, he vanished. Without a trace.” The monsters smile grew. “They say he shattered across time and space…”

“Shattered?” Chara asked.

“Across time and space?” Frisk added. The monster nodded.

“H-h-h-how do you-” Chara's voice shook, both from the unnatural cold, and from the sheer sight of the grey monster.

“How do I know? How can I say so without so much as a quiver of fear?” The monster chuckled. “Because your majesty.” It held the object in it’s hands closer to it’s face. “I’m holding a piece of him…” The object turned and faced the two humans, revealing a face. “RIGHT HERE.” The object spoke, before the monster disappeared before their eyes. A rush of frost washed over the two humans, who quickly went into the elevator. They paused, and didn’t even hit the button to go up.

“What was that?” Frisk asked.

“I think that was one of the old assistants…”

“Why did they…?” Frisk curled up near the wall.

“I don’t know…” Chara joined Frisk, and the two hid inside the elevator, frozen in fear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *...


	26. Chapter 4: HOTLAND-3

Papyrus and Sans walked into their home. Papyrus never did ask Sans how the shortcuts really worked, but they were born with them, so it would be a waste to not employ them, even if Sans tends to overuse them. He tried getting the lady behind the door to join them, but she was still apprehensive about leaving the Ruins. Oh well, they’ll be other opportunities. “Where have you guys been? You just missed the punk making a cake!” Undyne said as the two skeletons entered the house.

“I’M SURPRISED." Papyrus said, raising a brow ridge. "YOU NEVER SHOWN INTEREST IN METTATON’S SHOW BEFORE.”

“Well the kid is apparently going to be a regular on it now, so I figured I’d keep an eye on it.”

“makes sense.” Sans said.

_Ring...Ring…_

Papyrus looked at his phone, and saw that Chara was calling him. He smiled and answered it, holding the phone up to where his ear would've been. “CHARA!! I HEARD YOU GOT TO COOK WITH METTATON!! HOW WAS..." Papyrus paused when he heard Chara's breath shake. "ARE YOU OK?”

Chara’s voice was shaky. _“I-I’m fine, just ran into something that gave us both a fright.”_

Papyrus' eye sockets widened in panic. “WHAT WAS IT?”

“are they ok?”

“THEY RAN INTO SOMETHING." Papyrus quickly replied. "THEY GOT FRIGHTENED.”

“You sure it wasn’t something Mettaton did?” Undyne said with a mocking tone.

_“I know for a fact that Mettaton didn’t have anything to do with it.”_ Chara took a breath. _“Anyway, we just left the elevator, and we needed someone to talk to.”_

“ELEVATOR?” Papyrus tilted his head. "WHICH ELEVATOR?"

_“Elevator R2.”_ Chara replied.

Papyrus hummed in thought. “WHAT DOES THE ‘R’ STAND FOR?”

_“Really?”_ Papyrus could hear Chara facepalm. _“It means-”_

“C’mon Papyrus, think about it.” Undyne said, tapping a finger to both hers and Papyrus' head. “It stands for ‘RED’ because that’s the color of the lights!”

Chara sighed, and Papyrus heard another facepalm from the phone. _“Undyne, no.”_

“I GUESS THAT MAKES SENSE." Papyrus nodded, before he paused and hummed again. "WAIT, AREN’T THERE ELEVATORS MARKED WITH ‘L’? WHAT DO THOSE STAND FOR?”

_“You can’t be serious…”_ Chara was starting to sound normal again, and was also starting to chuckle a bit.

“uhhhhh…" Undyne tapped her foot, before she snapped her fingers. "Light green!”

  
  


“OH, OF COURSE! WAIT ISN’T THAT TWO WORDS?”

“light sea green.” Sans said.

Papyrus turned to Sans with an unamused expression. “THREE DOESN’T FIX THE ISSUE!”

Sans hummed before snapping his fingers and pointing to the taller brother. “light sea foam green.”

“AREN’T YOU WORKING IN THE VERY NEXT ROOM?!”

* * *

Chara hung up the phone, and the two began chuckling. After the initial fright, the antics of Papyrus, Sans and Undyne really helped. “Wait, did he just say that Sans is further ahead?” Frisk commented.

Chara paused his laughing and the two looked at each other. They continued down the path, and sure enough, there was Sans’ sentry station. The biggest surprise was how Papyrus knew Sans would be here. “Skeletons confuse me.” Chara muttered. The two walked up to Sans, who grinned widely at the sight of the two. He leaned forward on his chair and held out a Hot Dog.

“hey guys, what’s up? wanna buy a hot dog? only 30G.” Frisk and Chara counted out all their G, which, thanks to their pitstop at Tem Village, came up to about 715G. Chara was the first one to pay 30G, getting the Hot Dog sans was holding, but the skeleton winced when Frisk handed over 30G. "sorry, kid. all outta dogs." Frisk glared at the skeleton, as he raised his hands in the air and turned to the grill behind him. Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance, and Sans turned back to them and handed Frisk her food. "here, have a hot cat."

Frisk stared at the Hot Cat, which had little cat ears on it, and then sighed. “This place never ceases to confuse me.”

“that’s life for ya here in the underground.” Sans winked.

The two continued down the path while Frisk continued staring down the food. “How do they even get meat down here?” She pondered as she took a bite.

“I think this is actually a cooked water sausage.” Chara guessed, taking a bite out of his. "I mainly say so because of the taste."

“That makes more sense.” Frisk muttered, taking another bite from her food, before both of there phones buzzed. They looked at the notification, being met with a picture of an anime girl figurine next to a bowl of instant noodles.

**ALPHYS Posted a picture: dinner with the girlfriend ;)**

“I’ve seen posts like that up on the surface way too much.” Frisk said to herself. “Never thought they’d follow me down here.”

Chara chuckled. “Guess monsters and humans have something in common.”

“I guess.” Frisk smiled, to which another notification buzzed on their phones, revealing a photo of Papyrus flexing in the mirror with sunglasses taped to his head, with giant muscular biceps are pasted onto his arms, which are also wearing sunglasses.

**COOLSKELETON95 Posted a Picture: Are we posting hot “pics”??? Here is me and my cool friend!**

**CHARA DREEMURR Replied: Why do you have sunglasses?**

**COOLSKELETON95 Replied: To protect my eyes from the sun of course!**

“I’m not even going to bother…” Chara put his phone away.

Frisk was giggling at the picture. “I wonder how much time he spent on that…”

“Plot twist, it’s all natural.” Chara said jokingly.

“Oh god that’d be terrifying!” The two shared a laugh. They turned to their left, and saw a lone apron sitting on the ground. “I wonder why all their things are so separated from each other.” Frisk said, picking up the apron.

“They must have their reasons. I wonder when we’ll get the chance to ask.” Chara tapped his chin.

Frisk looked between Chara and the apron. “Hey Chara.”

“Yeah?”

“Hold still.”

Chara raised a brow, and looked around nervously. “Why?”

Frisk’s answer was to put the apron on Chara, tying the strings to hold it in place. She took a step back and tilted her head. “Looks good!”

“May I still ask why?” Chara was confused. Frisk wrapped an arm around Chara’s neck and took out her phone. She took a quick picture and began typing something. After a few seconds, Chara's phone buzzed, and the notification was of the picture Frisk took.

**FRISKY BITS Posted a Picture: Hanging out with the underground’s best baker!**

Chara just stared at the caption. “I feel like Mom would take that as a challenge.”

“Well then we’ll just have to host a bake off when this is all over.” Frisk said smugly.

“I know for a fact I’ll lose.”

Frisk rolled her eyes and lightly punched Chara's shoulder. “Come on, the cake turned out good!”

“Mettaton told me what to do. If it was just me it’d end up burnt.”

“You need to learn to take a compliment.” Frisk paused and went wide eyed. “Oh god I’m starting to sound like Kris!” Frisk started chuckling.

“If that’s something he said often, then maybe he has a point.” Chara muttered.

“Yeah. I guess he did.” Frisk calmed down and rubbed her arm.

Luke tilted his head from side to side, looking Chara over. “He doesn’t look that bad in my Apron…”

“What’s the stain supposed to be?” Cass asked.

“I forgot." Luke smiled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "It’s been awhile, and it was there when I fell.”

“You never washed it?” Alyssa was concerned. Luke rubbed the back of his head.

“I, uh, never had the time to…”

“Luke….” Alyssa had the tone of a disappointed mother.

Clover took a glance at the stain. They made a finger gun at the stain and then chuckled. “You really should have washed it. Looks like you got shot by something.”

“Ok, ok! I get it!" Luke raised his hands defensively. "I need to wash my stuff!”

“I think it adds character!” Cass said.

“Oh no. You’ve affected Cass! Now she thinks stains are good!” Alyssa berated Luke.

Luke sighed and rubbed his eyes, staring blankly at Alyssa. “Geez when did you become the mom of the group?”

“When Sam disappeared.” Clover replied. “She’s pretty convincing…”

“Traitor.” Luke muttered.

Clover chuckled. “I was never on your side to begin with!” Luke huffed and picked up his pace with Chara and Frisk. Everyone started laughing, ending with Alyssa kneeling down next to Cass.

“Seriously though Cass, please wash your clothes if they have stains on them.”

“Ok…” Cass replied.

Alyssa smiled. “Want a piggyback ride to make up for the order?”

“Yes please!” Cass got on Alyssa’s back and the two followed Luke. Clover hung back a bit, pulling out their pistol and doing some tricks, before putting it back in their holster, slowly catching up with the others.

_“It really makes it look like he was shot.”_ Clover whispered.

_You’d know what it looks like…_ Clover whipped his head around to look for the flower, but he was nowhere to be seen. _After all, you did your fair share of shooting._

_“It was Flowey’s fault…”_ Clover whispered to themself.

**_YOU_ ** _were the one who listened to him._ **_YOU_ ** _were the one to pull the trigger…_

_“It never happened in this timeline...They’re alive…”_

_Only because you caught on...But if you didn’t…_

_“Shut up…”_ Clover picked up their pace with the others, tipping their hat down to avoid drawing attention to their eyes. That voice didn’t belong to Flowey. It belonged to Clover.

* * *

“HOW THE VENT PUZZLE WORKS? HMMM…” Papyrus began tapping his chin. “WHOOPS, I THINK IT’S UNDYNE'S TURN TO TALK!!” He handed the phone to Undyne, who immediately recoiled.

“What? No!! I hate puzzles!!!" She tossed the phone to Papyrus. "You do it Papyrus!!”

“WELL, ALPHYS MADE THE PUZZLE, RIGHT?" Papyrus titled his head, waiting for Undyne to nod in confirmation. "THEN YOU SHOULD CALL HER UP AND SAY, IN A HOT VOICE-" Papyrus whipped his head around. "'ALPHYS, I NEED YOUR HELP WITH A-" Papyrus winked, which was somehow audible. "PUZZLE.'"

Undyne dragged her hands down her face and glared at Papyrus. “Oh my god no! Shut up!!!”

“FINE, GIVE ME HER NUMBER!!" Papyrus held out his hand. "I’LL DO THE HOT VOICE!!!”

“NO!!! THAT’S EVEN WORSE!!!!” Undyne took Papyrus' phone and hung it up.

* * *

Frisk pinched her nose, sighed, and put her phone away. “Well, they’re no help.” Frisk looked over at Chara, who had just came back from testing the puzzle, trying to map out the pattern. "Any luck?"

Chara shook his head. "This one is really difficult." Chara sighed and stared the puzzle down. "I prefer those arcade game puzzles."

“So how do we do this?”

“One of us should take the lead, and then the other retraces their steps.” Chara looked to the puzzle. “You should go first since the combination of the steam and your eye-sight will make it difficult for you to trace my movements.”

Frisk nodded. “Good call.” She walked up to the first vent, and looked it over, taking notice of the pressure plate next to it. "What exactly does the pressure plate do?"

"It changes the direction of the other vents." Chara replied, stepping on it. He pointed to the next platform, where the steam was now blowing out of two different vents. "As it is now, it'll take you to the last platform, and the platform below this one."

Frisk hummed and pressed the button again, changing the direction the steam is coming out of. She took note and quickly stepped onto the vent, launching her to the next platform, and onto another pressure plate, which changed the working vents back to their previous position. She took the vent that launched her to her left, and onto the next platform, and onto yet another pressure plate, changing the previous vents, but not the current ones. She continued onto the next platform, which could only take her back the way she came, or onto the next platform. "How does it look?" She yelled over to Chara.

"Umm..." Chara looked over the vents, and winced. "If you continue, I don't think the last vent will be in the correct position." Chara shouted back. Frisk tilted her head and tapped her foot, before looking back at the previous platform. She shrugged and backtracked to press the pressure plate, and then quickly went back to her place, and continued onto the next platform. Chara went wide eyed. "I think you got!"

Frisk looked over to the next platform, and squinted, making out the faint detail of another pressure plate. She quickly went over to the next platform, and wasted no time getting to the platform after that. She looked over to the working vent, and saw that it was in the correct position. She stepped onto it and was launched to the end of the puzzle. She shakily collapsed onto the floor, but looked back to Chara, giving a thumbs up. "I did it..."

Chara was wide eyed the whole time as he retraced Frisks steps. When he landed near her, she had recovered from her shakiness and helped Chara keep his balance. The two continued down the path, before coming across a SAVE point next to another mouse hole. The two interacted with the SAVE and rested against the wall. “Well that sucked.” Chara muttered.

"If I do that puzzle again, it'll be too soon." Frisk muttered back, wiping some sweat off her forehead. She sighed and shook her head. "Vents suck..."

“Agreed." Chara nodded, before standing up from the wall. "Anyway, let’s keep going. Staying in one place here is too much.”

“You got that right.” The two continued down the path, with several platforms holding pipes spewing out fire were dotted along to the right. They were about to approach a right turn, when a shout from behind stopped them in their tracks.

“Hey! You two! Stop!” Chara and Frisk turned around to see the two guards that were near the lab approaching them.

“Is something wrong?” Frisk asked.

“We’ve received, like, an anonymous tip about a couple of humans wandering around here.” One guard said.

“One was supposedly wearing a striped shirt, with the other wearing a Delta Rune shirt.” The other added.

“Sounds scary, huh?” The first added. Chara and Frisk looked at each other in disbelief. “Well, just stay chill you two." The first guard, which wore a bunny shaped helmet pointed between him and the other guard, wearing a horned, more lizard like helmet. "We’ll take you guys somewhere safe, ok?”

“Ok?” The humans answered. The group began walking the opposite direction, when the second guard glanced back at the humans, and stopped his fellow guard.

_“What is it, bro?”_

_“Their clothes.”_

The guards looked at the two. “If you need help, we’re the two humans you were told about.” Chara said impatiently. The guards looked at each other, to which they covered their helmets with their hands.

_“This is like...Mega embarrassing…”_ The bunny eared guard said. “We, like, actually totally have to kill you and stuff.”

“You don’t say?” Frisk said sarcastically. The world flickered monotone, as a fight was initiated with the two guards, who seemed to be in perfect sync with their movements. Frisk raised a brow, as she noticed that the second guards armor was more shoddy looking then the others.

“Like, team attack!”

“...Team attack.”

Chara and Frisk dodged the star shaped bullets, making sure to keep track of where they were standing. When the attack was done, Frisk walked up to the second guard, and began wiping away dirt from their armor. “Frisk...What are you doing?” Chara asked with a bemused expression.

“I just noticed their armor was dirty…” Frisk replied, still wiping away the dirt of the guard's armor.

“That was cooling dirt.” The guard explained. "It's too hot for me here, so that was to keep me from overheating in my armor."

“AH!" Frisk quickly jumped back to Chara's side, who was trying to hold in his laughter. "Sorry, I didn’t know!”

“It’s fine...But the armor… Is too hot…” The guard discarded the breastplate and sighed in relief. “Much better…”

“I still feel bad…” Frisk muttered.

“Eh, it can be replaced.” Chara reassured. He looked back to the guards, where the bunny eared one was fidgeting. “Are you ok?”

“I...I…” When the guards attacked, the bunny eared guard's bullets were all shaky.

_“I wonder what’s wrong…”_ Chara whispered.

_“I think I have an idea.”_ Frisk walked up to the first guard and whispered something. When she returned to Chara, the guard seemed even more nervous.

“Ok, if you think that’ll help…” The guard muttered. He took a breath and tapped the second guard's shoulder.

“...What’s up?” The second guard asked.

“I…” The first guard sighed. “I can’t take this anymore. Not like this!!” He quickly gripped the second guards shoulders and turned the guard to face him. “Look 02, I like…I like, LIKE you bro!”

Chara watched on, a little bit confused, while Frisk watched on with baited breath. “The way you fight...The way you talk...I...I love doing team attacks with you.” The second guard was deathly silent throughout this whole confession. “02, I, like, want to stay like this forever…”nEveryone was silent. Frisk was starry eyed, while Chara was mildly concerned by the long silence… “I, uh…” The first guard was shaking again. “Whew, bro, that human, like, put me under, uh, mind control! What was I just saying? It’s all a blur, hehe!” The guard quickly shut up. Chara and Frisk looked back and forth between the two.

“...01?” The second guard finally spoke.

“Y-yeah bro?”

“...Do you want to...Get some ice cream...After this?” The guard asked, point a finger over his shoulder.

The first guard seemed shocked at first, but quickly nodded excitedly. “Sure dude! Haha!”

The two were looking at each other happily, prompting Chara and Frisk to sneak away while they weren’t paying attention. They made the turn and looked back, noticing the guards not even trying to come after them. “Now that was pretty interesting!” Chara said, with a slight chuckle. “I feel like I just watched a rom-com confession.”

Frisk reached her arms behind her back and stretched, a wide, content smile spreading across her face. “I’m glad to know I still have a talent for noticing stuff like that!”

“I’m guessing you had to do that a lot on the surface.”

“Mhmm!”

Chara chuckled a little more. “Well either way, good job!” Their phones buzzed and they looked at the notification.

**ALPHYS Updated Status: oopswait how’re the two doing**

**ALPHYS Updated Status: Top 10 Shows That Make You Forget To Do Your Frickin Job**

“I think I’ve seen an actual video like that a few months ago…” Frisk muttered.

“I wouldn’t even be surprised.” Chara replied. They continued down the path, which ended in a pitch black area. Chara facepalmed at the sight, and then groaned. “Are you serious???”

_“OHHHHHH YESSS!!!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> quick note: I have Chara's design done. I'll be working on Frisk's tomorrow, and then the fallen children.


	27. Death Report!

“OHHHHHH YESSS!!! GOOD EVENING BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES!!” Mettaton announced to the audience in the house, which was, at the moment, Sans, Papyrus and Undyne. Undyne wasn’t sure if other people were watching this, but after Chara was announced alive on his show, she figured more people would tune in. of course, not everyone would believe that.

“I WONDER WHAT THE NEWS REPORT WILL BE ABOUT…” Papyrus said to himself.

“I don’t know and I don’t care. I’m just making sure the kid stays alive.” Undyne replied.

“kids…” Sans corrected. “there’s two of ‘em.”

“I know! It just feels like Chara is the one being targeted the most!”

“STILL, IT’S MORE CONSIDERATE IF YOU’RE MAKING SURE THEY BOTH STAY ALIVE, UNDYNE.” 

“Yeah, yeah.”

“FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENTS ARE ARE OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE!! BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS, PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY TO REPORT!”

“Geez, he says there’s a situation and he doesn’t even know what.” Undyne muttered.

“it’s mettaton.” Sans said.

“I know, but still! Can’t believe Alphys is friends with this guy…”

The camera followed the two humans around, zooming out since the two went to find their own newsworthy situation. Frisk wandered near the edge, when Papyrus sighed.

_ “TOBYYYYY..."  _

“Toby?”

Papyrus pointed to the screen, at the white dog minding it’s own business. Frisk knelt down to pet it. “Good dog.”

“WHAT A SENSATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR A STORY!! I CAN SEE THE HEADLINE NOW:  _ A DOG EXISTS SOMEWHERE!!” _

“HE EXISTS EVERYWHERE…” Papyrus muttered.

“WELL, WE HAVE ONE NEWSWORTHY SITUATION, WHAT ABOUT OUR MAJESTY CORRESPONDENT?” Chara stood in front of a script. “ON NO!!! THAT MOVIE SCRIPT!!! HOW’D??? HOW’D THAT GET THERE???” Mettaton cleared his non-existent throat. “IT’S A SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY LATEST GUARANTEED-NOT-TO-BOMB FILM:  _ METTATON THE MOVIE XXVIII _ … STARRING METTATON!”

Undyne chuckled. “Please kid, report this one! He sounds like he doesn’t want you too!”

“THEN WHY WOULD HE REPORT IT?” Papyrus asked.

“after all of mettaton’s hijinks, and all of mettaton threatening frisk, chara would see it as a way to get revenge.” Sans explained.

“I...I GUESS THAT MAKES SENSE…”

“I’d just do it in general, but yeah, after Mettaton threatening Frisk during the cooking section, and him electrocuting them both, I’d do it for revenge.” 

“although, i’d wager it’s mainly because of the threats he made to frisk…” Sans added.

“YEAH THAT’S ACTUALLY A VALID REASON FOR CHARA.”

“Well it’s nice to know he looks out for her! Friendships like that are the bomb!” Undyne chuckled for a few seconds, but stopped after noticing the looks Sans and Papyrus were giving her. “What?”

“you...you really didn’t notice?” Sans asked.

“Notice what?”

“...AWKWARD…”

“Well Mettaton, I think this movie leak is the perfect newsworthy article!” Chara said smugly, as he opened the script to reveal a bomb.

“WHat?!?!?.” The watchers said in unison.

“OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB!! THAT DOG’S A BOMB-” A fuse lit up on Toby’s tail.

_“THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE LEAST EXCITING THING I’VE HEARD ABOUT TOBY…”_

“THAT PRESENTS A BOMB!!!” The wrapped box opened up to reveal a bomb. “EVEN THE SET IS A BOMB!!” The news set fell backwards, blowing up in the process.

“Nice!” Undyne was impressed.

“BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS, IF YOU DON’T DEFUSE ALL THE BOMBS-” Mettaton flew up to a giant bomb in the upper parts of the area. “THIS BIG BOMB WILL BLOW YOU TO SMITHEREENS IN TWO MINUTES!!”

“that says five minutes…” Sans pointed out.

“HA!! He can set up all these shows, but can't do basic math!!”

Chara and Frisk answered their phones, and then, with a nod, chased after the moving bombs. Frisk went to Toby immediately, and defused the bomb, whilst giving him a few pets. Chara was trying to defuse a glass of water, but it was moving like it was set to x10 speed.

“HOW DOES THAT WORK?” Papyrus asked as they watched the scene.

“it’s best not to question it.” Sans replied.

“I’m with Papyrus on this one. That just doesn’t make sense…”

Frisk defused the basketball bomb, while Chara finally defused the glass of water. Chara went down, and passed through some lasers to get to the video game bomb.

“undertale…” Sans read the box art. “weird name for a game, but ok…”

“IT SOUNDS LIKE FUN THOUGH!! LIKE SOME KIND OF...MORALITY TESTER…”

“A game like that sounds boring…” Undyne replied. “I’d rather play a game where the only way to win is to fight!!”

“WOULDN’T THAT GET REPETITIVE?”

“Maybe, but fighting in general can get repetitive depending on the circumstance…”

Frisk defused the script bomb, which was placed on a conveyor belt, as Chara moved on to defuse the present bomb. With 9 seconds left, all the bombs were defused. Papyrus and Undyne let out a sigh of relief.

“WELL DONE, DARLINGS!! YOU’VE DEACTIVATED ALL THE BOMBS!! IF YOU DIDN’T, THE BIG BOMB WOULD’VE DETONATED IN TWO MINUTES. NOW IT WON’T EXPLODE IN TWO MINUTES!!! INSTEAD IT WILL EXPLODE IN TWO SECONDS!!” Nothing happened. “AH… IT SEEMS THE BOMB ISN’T GOING OFF…”

Chara’s phone rang. He answered it, and Alphys’ voice rang out. “That’s b-because!!! While you were monologuing, I…!!!” Alphys started stuttering.

“It’s okay, Alphys, take your time…” Undyne said to the TV.

“OH NO!! YOU DEACTIVATED THE BOMB WITH YOUR HACKING SKILLS!!!” Mettaton helped out.

“there wasn’t a computer to hack into…” Sans said.

“Yeah! That’s what I did!”

“CURSES!! IT SEEMS I’VE BEEN FOILED AGAIN!!”

“IS IT JUST ME, OR DOES METTATON SOUND...BORED?” Papyrus asked.

“Why do you say that?” 

“SOMETHING ABOUT HIS DEMEANOR…IT FEELS...TIRED.” 

“That doesn’t make any sense…” Undyne replied.

“BUT I DON’T CURSE MY EIGHT WONDEFUL VIEWERS FOR TUNING IN!! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS!!” Mettaton flew away.

“well, any bets as to what the next trap is?” Sans asked.

“MAYBE IT’S METTATON’S FAMOUS SINGING COMPETITION!!” Papyrus guessed. “THAT’S WHAT I’D DO, AT LEAST.”

“I don’t think either of them know how to sing…” Undyne commented.

“not true. chara can sing pretty darn good.” Sans said.

“How do you know that?”

“he was singing with shyren in waterfall.” Sans explained.

“WHAT!!! WHEN?!?!?!” Undyne shouted.

“about ten chapters ago…”

“CHAPTERS?...” Papyrus was confused.

“i’ll tell you later.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thought it'd be fun to see this specific Mettaton encounter through the eyes of the audience.


	28. Chapter 4: HOTLAND-4

_“THE CORE...YOU’RE GETTING CLOSE, HUH?”_ Papyrus’ voice rang out from the phone, slightly dejected.

“Seems like it.” Chara muttered.

“There’s something...Unsettling about the CORE. It feels like a giant demon is watching us…” Frisk said.

_“YES, THE CORE HAS THAT EFFECT. BUT FROM WHAT SANS HAS TOLD ME, THE INSIDE IS EVEN MORE COMPLEX…”_

“What Sans told you?” Frisk asked.

_“HE USED TO HELP OUT WITH THE SCIENCE!! HE’S BEEN IN THE CORE MANY TIMES. HE SAID THE INSIDE CHANGES SHAPE, SHIFTING POSITIONS EACH TIME YOU ENTER A DIFFERENT ROOM. THOUGHT YOU IN A HALLWAY? NOW YOU’RE IN A SINGULAR ROOM."_ Papyrus sighed. _"I NEVER DID HAVE THE COURAGE TO VENTURE IN THERE MYSELF, DESPITE THE PROMISE OF PUZZLES. THE ATMOSPHERE AROUND IT...IT FEELS FAMILIAR, YET ALL TOO ALIEN…”_

“That’s just the CORE in a nutshell.” Chara chuckled.

“Have you been in there Chara?”

“Once. I nearly fell into the depths of it." Chara sighed and shook his head while shrugging. "They need railings…”

Frisk nodded. Papyrus cleared his “throat”. _“ARE YOU NERVOUS...ABOUT MEETING ASGORE?”_

“Yeah…” Chara replied.

_“I SEE… FEAR NOT HUMANS, I KNOW YOU CAN DO THIS!! I BELIEVE YOU CAN GET THROUGH TO HIM!!”_

Chara smiled. “Thanks Papyrus…”

“OF COURSE!! THAT’S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!! NYEH HEH HEH!!” Papyrus hung up.

Chara took a deep breath, and stared out to the CORE. “so needlessly complex...You outdid yourself Gaster…”

Frisk laid a hand on Chara's shoulder, and gave a patient smile. “Do you need a break?”

“Maybe in the elevator." Chara quickly replied, still staring up and the CORE. "The heat is unbearable here.”

“Ok…” Frisk took Chara’s hand and the two continued down the path. Halfway, the coldness came back. This time, they stuck together like glue to try and fend it off, but it pierced every defense. When they approached the elevator, a grey figure was nearby. It seemed to slouch forward, and remained still in it’s spot. The humans gulped, and approached.

“I understand why Asgore waited so long to hire a new Royal Scientist...The previous one, Dr. Gaster. His brilliance was irreplaceable...However, his life...was cut short. One day, his experiments went wrong and…” The figure chuckled.

“W-what’s s-s-so funny?” Frisk asked.

“Well, I needn’t gossip…” The figure said, still chuckling. “After all… _I T S R U D E T O T A L K A B O U T S O M E O N E W H O S L I S T E N I N G…”_

Frisk and Chara bolted into the elevator, and sat near the buttons. They desperately tried to catch their breath, before turning to the controls, and going to L3. “Why did it happen again…?” Chara thought aloud.

“I don’t know, but something feels off…” Frisk commented, rubbing her hands together.

Chara chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Thank you captain obvious…”

“No. I mean...It’s still cold for some reason…” Frisk hugged herself.

Chara looked confused, before he noticed the chills running down his arm started to get stronger. “What the hell…?” The elevator doors opened, and when they stepped outside, there was yet another grey figure, staring out into nothing. Chara took a careful step towards it.

“It makes sense why Asgore took so long to hire a new Royal Scientist. After all...The old one, Dr. Gaster. What an act to follow!” The figure chuckled.

“Y-yeah, he was…” Chara replied.

“They say he created the CORE. However, his life...Was cut short.”

“How did it happen?” Chara asked.

The figure remained still. “One day, he fell into his creation, and…”

“Was shattered across time and space…” Frisk filled in the blank.

The figure nodded, before freezing in place. “Will Alphys end up the same way?”

“Ok, that’s it!” Chara grabbed Frisk’s wrist. “I’ve had enough of these guys!” Chara pulled Frisk away from the elevator. The figure didn’t even budge. It remained still, looking out into nothing.

“Will Alphys end up the same way?”

* * *

Cass stared at the spider pastries. They seemed more rushed, then the ones at the Ruins. The croissant looked stale, probably enough that it could be worn as armor, the donuts looked doughy and sloppily decorated and the prices were borderline robbery. "9999G for a pink frosted donut with spiders in it? That's just absurd!" She looked up at the banner overhead. and then at the impatient looking spider monster below it. _"Little miss Muffet, doesn't know how to bake a muffin!"_ She quipped.

“Imagine if girl scouts charged that much for a box of thin mints…” Clover muttered.

“The cost for getting ingredients for the restaurant wasn’t even this expensive…” Luke said to himself.

“At least it made Chara and Frisk remember that one donut they still had.” Alyssa commented. Everyone nodded as Chara and Frisk left the bake sale, avoiding contact with the distressed monster in the corner. They looked too much like the first grey figure they encountered, with the exception of them having eyes. Still, the two decided it was best to ignore them, and the other humans went along with it, however, it didn't stop Clover from thinking.

“How come those grey monsters were the only ones to remember Gaster?”

“That sounds like something Sam would get into a 10 page PowerPoint about!” Luke chuckled.

“Honestly, that sounds nice. I just want to hear them again…” Alyssa said somberly.

“Yeah…” Cass muttered.

Luke and Clover nodded solemnly, before Clover’s eyes went wide. “W.D. Gaster...Didn’t that one guy call himself W.D.?” If it wasn’t for the fact that they’d get pulled along towards Frisk and Chara if they got too far away, everyone would’ve stopped.

“He did, didn’t he?” Luke replied.

“Does that mean…?” Alyssa tapped her chin.

“This is confusing…” Cass winced. The group was so focused on the new information, they didn’t notice the two living humans leaving the south room. Luke, Alyssa, and Cass began a discussion, while Clover remained silent.

_“What, no cynical thoughts this time?”_ Clover whispered.

_You haven’t done anything to make me remind you of your sins…_

_“Then I must be doing something right!”_

_…_ _How many times have you had that thought? How many times did you traverse the underground, over and over again, sparing, killing and running away, before the overpowering sense of deja vu gave you back the memories?_

_“Oh, so we’re doing this instead?”_ Clover lowered their hat.

_You prompted this…_

_“Touché…”_

The cynical voice chuckled. _I can’t wait to see the king’s face again. To see it twist into horror as he realizes he left his kid to die…_

_“What even are you? Why are you haunting me?”_

_Who am I? I’m you! And you are me!_

Clover stayed silent, before their eyes widened. They let out a silent chuckle. _“Like in that one game?”_

_Take this seriously! You should’ve realized that when your memories of every single thing you’ve done in the underground, before Flowey turned back the clock, returned, that some monsters would follow suit._ Clover bit their lip. _I’m you after the countless timelines of killing...I stayed hidden for the most part, but some things, you can’t escape!_

_“I’ll try…”_

_Key word is ‘TRY’...But like Gaster said, it takes one reminder, to set off a chain reaction…_ Clover remained silent throughout the rest of the trip, which was quickly noticed by Luke and the others, making them worry for Clover.

* * *

**_Even after everything seemed impossible, you pulled through. You are filled with HOPEFUL DETERMINATION_ **

**_Frisk and Chara_ **

**_FILE SAVED_ **

**_Both LV 1_ **

“They were talking about the vent puzzle, weren’t they?” Chara muttered.

Frisk hummed. “It did seem impossible at first…”

“I still didn’t need the reminder…” Chara slumped.

Frisk patted Chara’s shoulder. “It’s ok, it’s over with!”

“Yeah…" Chara sighed and smiled at Frisk. "Let's move on.” Frisk and Chara entered the corridor, which was filled to the brim with webs. They circled around some on the floor, when a laugh rang out.

_“Did you hear what they just said?”_

The two looked around, but couldn't spot the voice. They pressed on.

_“They said a human with a striped shirt and a human with a Delta Rune would come through.”_

Chills ran down their spines.

_“I heard that they hate spiders.”_

_“I heard that they love to stomp on them.”_

The two were getting slowed down by the webs that seemed to now blanket the entire floor.

_“I heard that they like to tear their legs off.”_

“OH COME ON! EVEN MY _BIRTH FATHER_ WASN'T THAT SADISTIC!!” Chara shouted.

_“I heard…”_ The humans were completely covered in webs, and unable to move. They tried and tried, but stopped when a figure revealed themselves. “That they’re awfully stingy with their money…”

“You!” The humans called out to the purple spider monster, who was running the Bake Sale earlier. 

“Ahuhuhuhu!!! You think your tastes are too refined for our pastries, don’t you dearies?” The spider snapped playfully, each eye blinking one a time.

“More like your price was too expensive for our pocket money!” Chara shot back.

“Ahuhuhuhuhu!!! Such fire! I think it will work well with our next batch, don’t you?” A fight was initiated. The humans struggled, but couldn’t budge the webs. “Don’t look so blue, my dearies!” Muffet poured her teapots, and a purple liquid flowed from them, coating the SOULS of the humans in a purple glow. “I think purple is a much better look on you two! Ahuhuhuhuhu!!” The humans tried to struggle yet again, but their feet were stuck to the purple webs below them. “Why so pale? You should be proud!” Spider shaped bullets raced down the webs. Frisk and Chara hopped from one web to the other to avoid the bullets.

“Wait, haven’t you heard? I’m the human prince!” Chara tried negotiation. “You wouldn’t want to harm royalty, would you?”

“Quite the opposite dearie! Royal blood will only make my pastries more delicious! Ahuuhuhuhu!!!”

_Damn it! I should’ve kept my mouth shut!_ The two dodged more bullets, when Frisk took notice of the faint music playing in the background.

“What’s that music?” She asked. Muffet ignored her. The bullets raced down the webs, with some holding two bullets practically glued together. When the attack was done, Frisk and Chara braced for the next one.

“Your SOULS are going to make every spider very happy!” After the spider bullets, donuts bounced their way down the webs in rhythmic fashion. “Oh! How rude of me! I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet! It’s breakfast time, isn’t it? Have fun you two!” Frisk and Chara heard a growl behind them. A giant, muffin spider was ascending to their position. The two climbed up the webs, only for spiders and spider shaped bullets to descend down on them. Frisk took a couple of hits, but kept up her pace to out run the bigger threat. The giant spider fell behind, and the two were back at square one.

Chara put a hand on Frisk's shoulder, panicked. “How’re you feeling Frisk?”

“Minor damage!" Frisk simply said, with a slight wince. "I shouldn’t need healing…”

Chara raised a brow. “Are you sure?”

“Positive!” Frisk smiled and the two stared Muffet down.

“The person who warned us about you…” Muffet began, before a complex array of bullets and donuts made their way down the webs. “Offered us a LOT of money for your SOULS.” The two dodged the bullets, taking notice of the almost, rhythmic feel to the fight. “They had such a sweet smile and...Ahuhuhu!!” A spider croissant was hurled at the two, before returning to sender. “It’s strange, but I swore I saw them in the shadows...Changing shape…?” The two dodged a hail of boomerang croissants. “Oh, it’s lunch time! And I forgot to feed my pet…” A wicked smile formed on Muffet’s face, as her pet charged at the two humans once again. Both Frisk and Chara took damage from the spiders, prompting Frisk to root around her phone’s interdimensional boxes. She pulled out the spider donut she still had from the Ruins. A little stale, but it did the job well. Muffet paused. “Where’d you get that, deary?”

“T-the R-Ruins…” Frisk replied.

“It was actually our second one!” Chara added.

“What?” Muffet gasped. All the spiders in the area scattered about, and one came in with a slip of paper. Muffet took the paper. “A telegram from the spiders in the Ruins?...” She read it carefully. After a minute, her face was enveloped with a blush of embarrassment. “Oh my… This had all just been a big misunderstanding!! _The person who asked for those SOULS...They must’ve lied…”_ Muffet undid all the webs, and the two were free at last. “I’m so sorry for all the trouble!!”

“It’s fine, but you need to check your sources better.” Frisk replied.

“Of course!" Muffet quickly replied, with a wave of one of her hands. "Feel free to come back here anytime, free of charge!!” The two nodded. “Ahuhuhuhu!! Farewell my dearies!” Muffet vanished into the darkness. The humans let out a breath that neither of them knew they were holding.

“That was intense!” Chara muttered.

“I’m glad we kept that donut…”

“Yeah, that really helped…” Chara sighed. “Let’s continue.” They walked out of the corridor, and back onto the path. Chara stopped and looked at a poster for what seemed to be Mettaton’s latest stage performance. “Huh...I’m actually curious about this one.” Frisk went on ahead, and an electric gate separated the two. “Frisk?!”

“That can’t be good!”

* * *

Toriel stood in front of the door to Snowdin forest. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to leave, or to just open the door. It wasn’t like she didn’t believe in Chara or Frisk, but she had been gone for so long, how would people react to seeing her? Would they ask questions? Would they try to villainize her? There were so many things that could go wrong. Still, it’d be nice to wander around more terrain. She had covered all of the Ruins, and there were no more surprises left for her here. Another human could fall down, but if the door is open, and the monsters in the Ruins leave, they would be safe, for a time. _“This is a difficult decision…”_ Toriel whispered to herself.

_YOU COULD MEET MY FRIEND UNDYNE, AND THE THREE OF US COULD COOK TOGETHER!!!_ Toriel had to admit, the prospect of that sounded nice. Being around other friends. _DO YOU THINK ANYONE COULD BE GOOD? IF THEY JUST TRY? NO MATTER THEIR MISTAKES?_ Those words hung in Toriel's mind. She took a deep breath, and opened the door, causing Sans to stumble forward. “Oh my goodness!” Toriel gasped. “I didn’t think you were there!”

“it’s fine.” Sans caught himself. He looked up at Toriel and grinned. “so, got tired of the ruins, eh?”

“Well...I wanted to take Papyrus on that offer to meet Undyne…” Toriel told a half truth.

“uh-huh.” Sans nodded. “they’re back at my place. follow me, i know a shortcut.”

Papyrus and Undyne sat on the couch, impatiently waiting for the next showing to see how the humans were doing. The door to the house opened, and Sans stepped into the living room. “SANS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? THE NEXT SHOWING COULD START ANY MINUTE!!”

“grabbing a friend.” Sans pointed to the door, where a confused Toriel entered the house. Papyrus gasped.

“MS. TORIEL!! DID YOU COME TO HANG OUT WITH ME AND UNDYNE?!”

“Y-yes…” Toriel looked around. “What just…?”

“AH YES, SANS’ SHORTCUTS TEND TO BE DISORIENTING FOR THE FIRST FEW TIMES, BUT YOU GET USED TO THEM." Papyrus leaned into Toriel's ear. _"ESPECIALLY IF HE USES THEM FOR PRANKS.”_

Undyne remained on the couch, looking at the monster before her. “Is that…?”

“AH YES! WHERE ARE MY MANNERS? UNDYNE THIS IS MS. TORIEL!” Papyrus gestured between the two. “MS. TORIEL, THIS IS UNDYNE, CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!”

“Wait. Toriel?!" Undyne's mouth was agape as she stared Toriel down in shock. "As in...Asgore’s ex?!”

“Please don’t refer to me as that…” Toriel said in her stern mother voice.

“Sorry, it’s just…” Undyne paused. “This is a shock…”

“It is for me as well. I never thought I’d find myself outside of the Ruins, yet here I am.”

“JUST IN TIME TOO!” Papyrus pointed to the TV. “THE NEXT SHOWING IS ABOUT TO START!”

The TV read: _Get ready for live footage of Mettaton’s newest stage play!_ Everyone sat on the couch, with Toriel taking up the middle, very concerned. “I assume that my children have been participating in these?”

“Yep!!” Undyne replied.

“THEY’VE BEEN DOING GOOD THUS FAR! THIS NEXT ONE IS BOUND TO BE A CINCH FOR THEM!” The TV sprung to life, with what was Mettaton’s channel theme.

_“~THIS IS THE PLACE_

_WHERE THE FAME IS EVERYTHING!_

_EVERYONE WANTS TO TOUCH,_

_EVERYONE WANTS TO SEE!_

_WE LIVE IN A WORLD_

_WHERE CELEBRITIES ARE KINGS!_

_WHERE THE MORE PEOPLE WANT,_

_THE MORE GIVEN OUT THINGS!_

_EVERYONE QUIET!_

_IT’S A SHOW FROM METTATON!_

_HE’S THE UNDERGROUND’S_

_NUMBER ONE AND RISING STAR!_

_HE IS SIMPLY,_

_THE MOST INCREDIBLE MACHINE!_

_THAT BRINGS AMAZING DAYS_

_FROM OUR OWN TV SCREENS!~”_

* * *

Frisk stood in the middle of the stage, feeling all kinds of stage fight, both regular and the one caused by not having someone to help her out of the next trap. She looked around for Mettaton, but couldn’t find him.

“OH MY! THAT HUMAN! COULD IT BE…?” Mettaton revealed himself, from behind a stage prop. He was wearing a blue princess dress.

_Huh...He actually makes that work…_ Frisk thought, staring up at the dressed up Mettaton.

“...MY ONE TRUE LOVE?” Mettaton descended down the stairs, as a gentle melody filled the room. Frisk didn’t know what to do, so she just stood in place. She looked back to Chara, who was watching with concern, anger and all forms of confusion from where he was standing. Mettaton wheeled around Frisk slowly, raising his arms in the air for dramatic flair.

_“~OH MY LOVE_

_PLEASE RUN AWAY!_

_MONSTER KING,_

_FORBIDS YOUR STAY!_

_Dang, he can really hit those high notes…_ Frisk watched on as Mettaton kept swaying his dress around, partially to keep his wheel from getting caught in it.

_HUMANS MUST,_

_LIVE FAR APART!_

_EVEN IF,_

_IT BREAKS MY HEART!_

Cherry blossom petals began flying throughout the stage. Frisk looked around confused as to where they may have come from, while Mettaton's voice started to grow more slack.

_THEY’LL PUT YOU_

_IN THE DUNGEON._

_IT’LL SUCK._

_AND THEN YOU’LL DIE A LOT!_

Mettaton started filing his nails, clearly bored at this point. Frisk was starting to feel that way too, regretting having just stood still the entire time.

_REALLY SAD._

_YOU’RE GONNA DIE._

_CRY CRY CRY._

_SO SAD IT’S HAPPENING!~”_

Mettaton ruffled Frisk’s hair, as the image of a shooting star played in the background. “SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU’RE GOING TO THE DUNGEON!” Mettaton pulled out a button. “WELL, TOODLES!” He pressed the button, and a trapdoor opened up beneath Frisk. She heard Chara call out to her, but it was drowned out by her descent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look! Another Undertale: The Musical reference!
> 
> Edit: I don't know how to describe Muffet's outfit...


	29. Chapter 4: HOTLAND'S METTATON RESORT

Frisk fell down onto a different level of the stage. She could feel the heat of the lava even closer than she could when the two exited the elevator. She must be somewhere between levels 3 and 2. She picked herself up and rubbed the bruise on her head. Mettaton flew down the trapdoor. “OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO? MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON! A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!!” Frisk looked on ahead, and felt a pit in her stomach. It was the tile puzzle.

“O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY!! THE SADISTIC DISCO LIGHTS FLOOR!" Mettaton said, in his best 'aghast' voice. "EACH COLORED TILE HAS IT’S OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION! FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE WILL SOUND A NOISE, AND THEN YOU FIGHT A MONSTER. RED TILES WILL..." Mettaton paused. "ACTUALLY, WAIT A SECOND! DIDN’T WE SEE THIS PUZZLE ABOUT 19 CHAPTERS AGO?” Mettaton hummed in thought. “THAT’S RIGHT, WE DID! I'M SURE YOU REMEMBER THE RULES!!" Mettaton quickly flew down and patted Frisk's head. "OH, AND YOU BETTER HURRY! OTHERWISE, IN 30 SECONDS, YOU’LL BE INCINERATED BY THE JETS OF FIRE!!” A firewall (literally) appeared behind Frisk. She looked at the puzzle in fear. She did not at all remember like half of these functions. “AHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!! AHAHHA...HAHA...HA! MY POOR LOVE, I’M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF THAT I CAN’T STOP LAUGHING!!" Mettaton wiped his screen with a finger. _"AND BEFORE YOU ASK, YES, THIS PUZZLE WAS WHY YOU AND THE MAJESTY WERE SEPARATED.”_

The timer started and Frisk wasted no time in trying to get this over with. All she remembered were that pink tiles didn’t do anything, green makes you fight a monster, red is impassable, blue is water, and yellow is electric. After stepping on the tiles, she made at least three different mistakes, but remembered the functions of the orange and purple. Unfortunately, she only made it halfway before the flames closed in on her location. “OOOH, I’M SO SORRY, BUT IT LOOKS LIKE YOUR OUT OF TIME! HERE COMES THE FLAMES DARLING!” Frisk curled up and braced for impact. “THEY’RE CLOSING IN!!” Frisk could feel the heat. “GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY!”

Frisk waited, but nothing happened. She stood straight, and looked at Mettaton, who let out a robotic cough. “So...Is it like a blink and you’ll miss it, or…” Frisk’s phone rang, and she picked it up.

_“Watch out! I’ll save you!!”_ Alphys said from the phone. After a few seconds, the walls of fire let up and sizzled out. Chara ran out from the other side of the puzzle and rushed over to Frisk.

Chara gave Frisk a hug and gripped her shoulders worriedly. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just wished I memorized the rules more…” Frisk replied, giving Chara a smile.

“OH NO!!! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN???” Mettaton announced. “FOILED AGAIN BY THE BRILLIANT DR. ALPHYS!!” Both the humans and Mettaton sat in silence for a few seconds. Mettaton tapped his screen. ”THA-”

_“That’s right!! Come on, Mettaton! Give up already! You’ll never be able to defeat us!! Not as long as we work together!!”_ Alphys finally said from the phone.

“Is this going to turn into one of those anime speeches?” Chara groaned.

“NO, THAT’S TOO CLICHE!!" Mettaton quickly reassured. "BESIDES, YOU STILL STEPPED ON THOSE GREEN TILES…”

“Oh no…” Frisk and Chara said in sync.

“OHH YESSS!!” Mettaton initiated the fight. “THIS IS IT DARLINGS!!! SAY GOOD-”

_Ring...Ring…_

“YOU MAY WANT TO ANSWER THAT…”

Frisk answered the call. _“H-hey, this seems bad!! B-but don’t worry! Th-there’s one last thing I installed on your phones!! Press the y-yellow button!!”_ Alphys hung up. Frisk looked at the button on her phone, and pressed. A yellow light scanned her up and down, before turning her SOUL upside down, and changed it yellow. “What the?” She looked over her SOUL, and made a finger gun towards Mettaton. Her SOUL shot out a single yellow pellet, which made her jump back.

“OOOH!!! OOOOOOOH!! YOU’VE DEFEATED ME!! HOW CAN THIS BE? YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT! ETC. ECT.” Mettaton rolled away off the edge, before reappearing in front of the humans in flight mode. “WHATEVER.” Mettaton flew away while Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance. 

_Ring...Ring…_

_“L-looks like you beat him! Y-you did a really great job out there!!”_ The two remained silent, which in turn, prompted a full minute of awkward silence. _“Umm, h-hey, I know that this might sound strange, but...C-can I tell you something?”_

“Sure?” Frisk replied.

Alphys sighed. _“Before I met you, I d-didn;t really...I didn’t really like myself very much...For a long time, I f-felt like a total screw-up. L-like I couldn’t do a-anything without...Without letting everyone down.”_

Frisk looked to Chara and the two sighed. “Alphys…”

_“B-but guiding you has made me feel better about myself! So...Thanks for letting me help you!”_ Neither human said anything. _“Uhhh, anyway, we’re almost to the CORE. It’s just passed MTT Resort!”_

“MTT Resort?!”

* * *

Clover wasn’t sure why the two’s first instinct upon seeing the resort, was to heed the letter left on the ground, asking them to go into the creepy alleyway, but they didn’t say anything. They didn’t say anything for awhile. Luke and Alyssa didn't pay them any heed, but it was hard not to notice the looks Cass was giving them.

_Being quiet only makes you more suspicious!_

**_Shut...up…_ **

_I’m just saying, she’ll be dying for answers. Answers that you’ll have to share eventually!_ Clover remained silent. _Silent treatment eh? Alright! Don’t say I didn’t warn you!_

“Clover, are you ok?” Cass asked. Clover nodded. Cass didn’t buy it for a second. Why was Clover being so distant all of a sudden? Cass was being extra observant now. After Sam and Alex, it became crucial to look for signs. Cass was seeing them...And it made her feel sad. Clover flinched at the sight of the gun and the hat. The ladies said they found this stuff at the dump, but didn’t Clover make it farther than any of them?

“Hey Clover?” Luke asked. “Didn’t you say Flowey killed you somewhere around here?” Clover didn’t react. They just stared. At the gun…

* * *

“I think I believe you’re real now…” A monster said, clutching their chest. Aside from the horns, they looked like a vampire from a cartoon. “I know I’m tired, but...I won’t wake up and have you be gone…”

Clover approached the monster. A sinister smile grew on their face. “You won’t wake up at all…” Clover raised their gun to the monster, and fired it again, dusting them. “Finally alone…”

* * *

“CLOVER!!!” Cass called out.

Clover pushed her away. “DON’T!!! I’M….I’M….”

“Clover?” Luke slowly approached.

“I’m….I’m a killer….I killed so many….So many times….All because of that stupid flower!!!” Clover broke down. Tears were streaming down their face, and a void black dot appeared in the middle of their head. “I...I lied...I actually made it to the king….I lied about a lot of things…” Clover began sobbing. “I went through the underground, so many times...And then Flowey would revert everything back to square one. I traversed this place, over and over...At least half of those times, I would…”

“Clover…”

“It’s that stupid flower’s fault…” Clover clenched their fists. “He made me a puppet...All for his sick twisted game! All the deja vu I kept getting, it was enough, that I started to fully remember...I made it to the king, and shot myself…” The rest were silent. “If I ever get the chance…” Clover’s eyes went red. _“I’LL TEAR THEIR STUPID PETALS OFF ONE BY ONE!!!!”_ Clover’s voice went distorted, and in an instant, they were gone.

“Clover…” Luke was frozen in place. Alyssa covered her mouth, and tears began running down her face. Cass just looked on in horror. _And then there were three…_ She thought. _We have to stay strong...For the others…_ Cass could feel a new resolve within her, to see this through to the end, for the sake of the others.

* * *

*ROYAL MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN: BUILT 2018 (METTATON ADDED LAST WEEK)

Chara scoffed at the sign. Of course he’d take over a memorial fountain for his own gain. Frisk was looking at the line in front of the elevator. They could faintly make out the sounds of the distressed monsters, but if the elevators were out, then they’d just have to stick with the core.

“What do you think they have here?” Frisk asked.

“It seemed like a standard hotel.” Chara replied. “Although, since this is Mettaton we’re talking about, there’s bound to be some hidden function behind this. Or it’s just a hotel, and I’m paranoid..." Chara sighed and ran a hand down his face. "Probably the latter.”

Frisk giggled. “Well why don’t we look around?”

“That...That sounds nice.” Chara nodded. “Having a break...Still can’t believe we got the Hat and Gun for free though.”

“Well your story was pretty convincing.” Frisk poked Chara in the side, making him chuckled a bit.

“It didn’t sound like it to me…” Chara finally replied.

“Come on, not everyone is going to give you special favors because of your history…” Frisk rolled her eyes.

“I don’t think it was that either.” Chara replied, snarkily. “They seemed to Mettaton crazed to even pay attention to that.”

“Fair point.” Frisk looked around to see what they could do. She walked up closer to a nearby glass door and looked at the sign above it. “How about the burger emporium?”

Chara hummed in thought. “Why not? It’ll help us restock on items.” The two entered the emporium, where an employee stared down at the two with forced enthusiasm.

“Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day! (™).” The employee said, somehow pronouncing the parenthesis for the trademark warning.

“Pretty sure you don’t need to say the ‘™’, bud…” Chara snarked. That just made the employee more nervous.

“How can I help you, o customer?” The two looked at the menu, and figured that they could only get a couple of Starfaits and a Glamburger with their budget. They paid for the items, and the employee, REALLY, tried to be enthusiastic. "Thanksy! Have a FABU-FUL day!!! The employee soon collapsed on the counter and groaned.

“Are you ok?” Frisk finally asked, somewhat nervous. “You look like you need to vent.”

The employee looked up at the two humans and shook his head. “I’ll get in trouble if I get chummy with the customers...Sorry.” The employee soon sighed, and clenched his fists. “You know what, screw it!" The employee finally snapped. "SO I WANTED TO BE AN ACTOR!!”

“That clearly didn’t go well.” Chara said, in shock at the sudden change.

“Definitely.” The employee lit a cigarette. “Let me give you some advice, don’t live like me, you still got time!! I wasted my entire life, and I’m only 19 years old…” The employee banged his head on the counter.

“I take it, Mettaton had a big reason to do with it?” Frisk guessed.

“When I first came to Hotland, it was my DREAM, to work with Mettaton!..." He took a long drag from his cigarette. "Be careful what you wish for, little buddies…” He finally said, gesturing at the two with the cancer stick.

“I’m sure he can’t be that bad…” Frisk tried to see the glass half full.

“God, have you even looked around?!" The employee said with a slight laugh mixed in. "This place is a labyrinth of bad choices!! Every time we try to change something for the better, he vetoes it and says “That’s not how they do it on the surface!”” The employee made a lousy Mettaton impression and took a deep breath. “OH, RIGHT!!! HUMANS ARE ALWAYS EATING HAMBURGERS OUT OF SEQUINS AND GLUE!!!!”

Chara looked at the Glamburger. “Eh, I’ve had worse…”

“And why do people find him so attractive???" The employee asked, no one in particular. "He’s literally just a freaking rectangle!!”

“Maybe it’s the way he acts.” Frisk suggested, really starting to regret opening this can of worms.

The employee sighed. “I still don’t get it…”

“Well, at least you have to hold hope for the future…” Frisk put on a forced smile. This employee was really starting to make her feel depressed.

“Future? WHAT FUTURE?! NOTHING DOWN HERE EVER CHANGES!!! I’ll probably be trapped at this stupid job forever…” The employee banged their head on the counter multiple times. Frisk was starting to feel uncomfortable. “But wait!! There’s one thing that keeps me going…”

“And that is?” Chara asked, getting ready to pull Frisk out of this depressing atmosphere.

“If Asgore get’s one more SOUL, we’ll finally get to go to the surface! It’ll be a brand new world!! There’s gotta be a second chance out there for me! For everyone!!” The employee sighed and took a long smoke from their cigarette. “So stay strong little buddies, when I make it big, I’ll keep you in mind!” The employee gave them the thumbs up, and the two left. 

Chara smelled his shirt. “I smell like cigarette smoke now…”

“I didn’t think the underground had cigarettes…” The two sighed. “I’m kinda tired…” Frisk rubbed her eyes.

“You and me both.” Chara walked up to the reception desk and began to ask for a room. Frisk stayed behind and resisted the urge to see if the cigarette smell lingered on her clothes too. It’d bring too many bad memories. She waited by the fountain for Chara, and stared into the water. 

“It’s raining somewhere…” She muttered. “I can feel it…”

Chara came back with a room key. “They recognized me as the person in all the shows, so I got a discount!”

“There’s one good thing that came from Mettaton.” Frisk said.

“No kidding. Come on, let’s check out the place.” Chara headed to the residence area of the hotel. “I want to call Papyrus to see if he has anything he wants to say before we head off to sleep.” Chara explained.

“Go ahead, I could go for hearing him cheer us on.” Frisk gave a smile, and the two entered the room. It was a single bed, but it looked to be a king sized bed, so there would be plenty of space. Frisk sat down on the bed while Chara dialed Papyrus’ phone.

* * *

“Papyrus, you really shouldn’t over do it on the salt.” Toriel lectured Papyrus. “Too much will ruin the overall quality of the food.”

“Plus, y'know, it makes the spaghetti super goddamn salty!" Undyne called out from the living room.

“IT’S MY PATENTED UPSETTI SPAGHETTI.” Papyrus explained, as if it would make a difference. “IT’S TO SIGNIFY HOW I FEEL.”

“Look, just because the kid couldn’t finish the maze, that doesn’t make it your fault.” Undyne tried to comfort Papyrus. “Alphys just got a little, carried away with the features…”

“STILL…” Papyrus’ phone rang, to which he answered without looking at the caller, which worried Toriel. “HELLO? AH CHARA, HOW’RE FEELING?! YOU’RE AT A HOTEL!!”

“Ah lucky, I want to go to a hotel too!!” Undyne cried out. “Papyrus, you and me should take a vacation to a hotel!! We can order pizza, play games-”

“Now Undyne-” Toriel tried to shush Undyne so Papyrus could have his phone call.

“YOU CAN DO PUZZLES AT HOTELS?” Papyrus asked, distracted by Undyne's suggestion."

“Not puzzles! Party games, like pillow fights!!” Undyne quickly explained, causing Toriel to facepalm.

“AH THAT MAKES MORE SENSE, BUT WHERE WOULD WE GET THE PILLOWS?” Undyne hummed in thought, before taking off one of the cushions from the couch. “NO COUCH CUSHIONS!!”

“Oh, sorry!” Undyne lifted the entire couch.

“NO ENTIRE COUCH!!” Papyrus handed his phone to Toriel, as he tried to stop Undyne.

Toriel sighed. “Sorry about that…I know it was rude of Undyne to-”

_“Mom?! When did you...I thought…”_

“You thought I was going to stay in the Ruins, did you not? I thought so too, but one day, Papyrus showed up at the door. He seemed upset, and we talked for a bit. He gave quite a bit to think about…”

_“So are you staying with them?”_ Frisk asked, slightly out of focus.

“I’m still staying at the Ruins, but I thought I’d try and wander around a bit. See what has changed.”

_“So you’re not going to try and stop us?”_ Chara said jokingly.

“I still have faith that you can convince Asgore to stop. Although, I do have concerns for this ‘Mettaton’ person…”

_“Of course you do.”_ Toriel could tell that Chara rolled his eyes.

“Well, I’ll put those on hold for now. I hear your at a hotel.”

_“We’re about to rest up for the CORE. The elevators in the hotel aren’t working, and since we overheard some people say where they led, the CORE is our best bet.”_

Toriel sighed. “Be careful. I don’t want you to nearly fall in again!”

_“I was saved, but I understand. Bye, Mom!”_

“Goodbye Chara! Goodbye Frisk!” Toriel looked at the phone. “This is different from the one I have...How do I-”


	30. It's Raining Somewhere

Frisk found her and Chara back at the cavern entrance facing off against Undyne. The attacks were brutal, and would constantly launch the two into the air, depending on the force of the attack. Frisk landed on her side, a few inches away from the edge. She slowly propped herself up, and saw Chara a few inches away from Undyne.

Frisk tried to shout his name, but nothing came out. She tried again and again, but no sound escaped her mouth. Chara laid on the floor, unconscious. With a smirk, Undyne raised her foot, and slammed it down onto Chara’s head. The sound of her boot crushing his skull burned itself deep into Frisk’s head. She closed her eyes, clutched her head, and prayed that she’d be back at square one. That Chara would be alright. She risked opening her eyes, only to see Undyne charge at her, and skewer her.

* * *

She jolted up in the bed, sword at the ready. She took a few deep breaths, before withdrawing the weapon. She took in her surroundings. 

_That’s right...We got past her. She’s our friend now…_ Frisk looked over to Chara’s side of the bed. He was still out cold. Bit unusual, since the two of them were both light sleepers, but she didn’t want to wake him up. He needed sleep. She stood up, put on her boots, and carefully left the room. She entered the lobby, where the line for the elevator was still as packed as ever. She sighed and wandered by the fountain. She was getting better at not relying on her cheat sheet, but there were some parts that were still muddy for her. All she knew was that this used to be a memorial fountain, until Mettaton said ‘fuck that noise’ and replaced it. _“Egomaniac…”_ She whispered.

“you said it kid.”

Frisk jumped, and looked at Sans, who appeared out of nowhere. “Please stop that!”

“no can do. it’s a gift, and it’d be a waste not to use it.” Sans winked, which Frisk huffed in response, and stared back at the fountain. Sans glanced at it too. “bad dream?” Frisk stayed silent and nodded. “hey, i get it. after all, there’s been quite a few things that could cause that.” Frisk remained silent. “how about this, since you’re up, how about some grub?” Sans offered.

“That sounds nice…”

“great. thanks for treating me.” Frisk glared at Sans, who winced. “not the time, right.” Apparently there was an actual restaurant to the left of the fountain. Frisk felt stupid for picking out the burger emporium, but at least they got some healing items. She doubted the restaurant would let them leave with their food anyway. The food wasn’t anything special, just steak. Shaped like Mettaton. Frisk’s side of the table was pretty standard, just the steak and a glass of water. Sans had steak sauce, a glass of wine, and his steak seemed more detailed. “i sometimes come here for comedy night, so i get some pretty decent discounts.” Sans explained.

“Ah…”

Sans took a sip of wine. “so, you guys are almost at the end. just one obstacle left, before you slap the sense back into asgore.”

“Seems like it. Then things will be calmer. Well, underground calmer.” Frisk cut a piece of her steak and chewed it. _"Not bad."_

“here’s something i don’t get, how come you’re not planning on going back up to the surface?" Sans asked. He quickly waved his hands and shook his head when Frisk glared up at him. "don’t get me wrong, you made a lot of good friends, who’d hate to see you go, it’s just...i figured that’d be your number one priority, even if chara’s with ya.”

Frisk stared down at her food. “There’s nothing left for me up there. Besides, the whole reason I came to this mountain was to...Disappear. For good.” Sans didn’t say anything. He just nodded, and took a few bites from his food. “So, how’d Papyrus manage to get Toriel out of the Ruins? I didn’t think she’d hear anyone talk through that door.”

“funny story. you know how i’m a sentry in snowdin, right?” Frisk nodded. “well, the job is mainly me, keeping an eye out for humans. so long story short, it’s boring. one day, i notice this door, and since it was close to my break i figured, why not practice my knock-knock jokes? during one of these sessions, i hear a voice from the other side, asking ‘who’s there?’, and naturally, i respond. ‘dishes’, ‘dishes who’, ‘dishes a very bad knock knock joke.’” Frisk chuckled. “heh, yeah, the person behind the door started laughing too, like it was the best joke she’s heard in years.”

“So you became knock-knock joke partners, but how did Papyrus know about her?”

“well, one day, he was just sitting there. he had this...confrontation, and it left him pretty down. he knew about my escapades with the door, so i guess, he wanted some company. what surprised me most, was when she opened the door. whatever papyrus did, it made her feel comfortable to open it, and offer us a slice of pie.” Sans took a sip of wine. “you should thank her, y’know.”

“Hmm?”

“during one of our meetings, she wasn’t laughing as much. she asked me to keep watch over any humans that left the ruins. now, i’m not one for making promises, but someone who genuinely enjoys bad jokes, has an integrity you can’t say no to.” 

_Wait… You laughed at the pun earlier. I thought you didn’t like them.-I actually found them pretty funny, but then Mom and Sans showed up. Well… Mainly Sans…_ Frisk thought back to that. She always wondered, since it seemed like Chara and Sans had the same sense of humor. “Can I ask you a couple of questions?”

“shoot.”

“Did something happen between you and Chara?" Frisk asked, with zero hesitation. "He seemed kind of indifferent to you.”

“ah. well. one day, he wanted help with a science project for school. something about me, is that i’m able to make these, self-sustaining tornadoes, and he wanted to make one for school. i...i promised him i would help him, or at least, i tried to. i was somewhat of an assistant, to the previous royal scientist, and i ended up getting caught up in something. the look on his face…”

“He said you always wanted to be a scientist...So why didn’t you become one?”

“that...that’s a tough topic for me…”

“Well, then how about this: Almost everyone was surprised to find out Chara was alive. Toriel, Undyne, all the people on Undernet, who believed in what Mettaton said. Everyone. Except you...Why? Why weren’t you?”

Sans looked into his glass.

* * *

“You spend more and more time in the CORE, and for what?!” Sans asked. “Did you forget you had a couple of kids to take care of or something?!”

(Sans, remember what I said? About Chara?)

“You’re still clinging to that?”

(Yes, because it will happen! I know it will!)

“Oh yeah, how? How do you know that Chara is going to magically come back to life?! What’s this have to do, with the fact that as the days go on, me and Pap are practically fending for ourselves?!” Sans was pissed. “Papyrus was sick for three days, and you weren’t even there to help!! Instead, you’re here, in this lab, or in the CORE, because of some dumb feeling?!”

(It’s not a feeling, it’s fact!)

“How then? How’s it a fact!?”

The skeleton in front of Sans sighed. (That connection I told you about, it helps me see the future. And in the future, Chara will return, and set us free.)

“So you got a vision from the future, BIG WHOOP!! That doesn’t mean you need to lock yourself away from your family!”

(Sans-)

“Don’t you “Sans” me!! You’re going to listen to what I have to say!!” The skeleton rubbed their eye sockets, and then looked at Sans. “You’re an amazing scientist, no doubt about that, but you are also a god damn Dad!! You were doing so good, but now you lock yourself away, and it’s like Paps and I don’t even have one!! There’s time for your work, and time for your family. When you put too much effort into your work, and less into your family, guess what happens, IT TEARS ITSELF APART!!!” Sans took a deep breath. “You’re always telling me, that sacrifices need to be made in the name of science.”

(Yes. You said you wanted to follow in my footsteps, and I felt that you needed to know.)

“Well, if the sacrifice is my family, then it’s not worth it!” 

(what are you saying?)

“I’m saying, if the choice is either my little bro, or a job that makes it so he’s all alone, then I choose my brother. You had the choice between your sons, and your work, and you made your choice. I’m making mine now! If being a scientist means I can’t spend time with my family, then it’s not worth it.” Sans walked away.

💧︎✌︎☠︎💧︎ 🕈︎✌︎✋︎❄︎✏︎✏︎ Sans kept the other skeleton away with blue magic, throwing them against the wall. A couple of cracks formed on their head as a result. Sans went through the door, leaving the lab for good.

* * *

“a tip, from a stubborn old man.” Sans finally replied. “kid...do you know what would’ve happened to you, if chara wasn’t with you, or if toriel didn’t ask that promise of me?”

“What?” Frisk tilted her head.

Sans closed his eyes. When they opened, the eye sockets were empty, revealing only a darkness within them. “you’d be dead where you stand…”

Frisk felt a chill run down her spine. “That’s not funny Sans…” 

Sans blinked, and then sighed. “right, right. sorry. still, haven’t i done a good job keeping you guys safe? You haven’t died a single time.”

_Wrong…_

“what’s that look for? am i wrong?” Sans stood up from the table and stretched. “well, that’s all. keep trucking on, kid. cause you got a couple of people, who really want you safe.” Sans left.

Frisk stayed at the table, and mindlessly continued her meal. _That didn’t help at all…_

* * *

The remaining fallen children didn’t know how to react. They couldn’t think Sans could be that frightening. Luke and Alyssa sat near Frisk, saying nothing. While Cass took notice to where Sans was. The figure finally returned, and it loomed over Sans’ side of the table. Cass couldn’t see their face, but walked over to them anyway. She grabbed the figures hand, and smiled up at them. The figure looked down at Cass, black tears streaming down their face.

**I really messed up…**

“You can turn it around! Someday!” 

The figure remained silent, but Cass could tell they appreciated her words.

* * *

“Excuse me?” A monster said to Frisk.

“Hmm?” 

“I was asked to give this to you.” The monster handed Frisk a note. 

She opened it up, and looked it over. It wasn’t written in monster language which was a plus for her, but the contents made her stomach drop.

_Sorry darling! But you’ll be facing the CORE alone!! Come to the end to reunite with the human majesty!-MTT_


	31. CHAPTER 4: THE CORE

_“M-Mettaton did what?!”_ Alphys screamed into the phone.

“He somehow managed to kidnap Chara. I thought it was odd he was sleeping more heavily, but I excused that as him being tired…” Frisk sighed. “I’m an idiot…”

_“H-hey, don’t blame yourself! This whole thing seems out of character, even for Mettaton…”_

“So what should I expect from the CORE?” Frisk asked, looking at the entrance to the behemoth. A sense of terror washed of Frisk, amplified by the constant, deep growl the CORE emitted.

_“Shifting floors, a myriad of puzzles."_ Alphys explained, pretty poorly on her part. _"If Mettaton kidnapped Chara, chances are he’s not going to make the CORE easy. B-but I’ll try to help every step of the way!”_

“Thanks.” Frisk crossed the bridge to the CORE, but once she stepped inside, she got dizzy. “Woah, that feels…” She tried her best to focus, but the constant smell of ozone was disorienting, and the internal structure, with it's blue grids and constant red glows felt too alien, even for the underground

_“The CORE can be pretty disorienting for the first time.”_ Alphys explained. _“According to my map, you should head right-no left! I-I mean-”_

“I’ll try right first.” Frisk went to the right door, but she was pulled away and thrown into the left side. A wall of bones blocked her exit. “What the…”

_“Th-that’s not normal! Even for the CORE!”_

Frisk stood up, and the world turned monotone. She turned around to see a magician-like monster in front of her. “Alaka-” The monster was thrown to the floor, and trapped in a cage of blue rib-like bones. “Zam…?” The fight ended, and Frisk was taken aback.

“What the heck is happening?”

**_*RUN GOD DAMNIT!!!_ **

Frisk jumped a bit, but decided it was best to follow the voices commands. She ran until the way forward was blocked by an electric gate. Her phone rang and the sound of Dr. Alphys was heard within. _“O-ok, if you flip the switch, the gate will deactivate, but the lasers will-”_ Sharpened bones flew from nowhere and pierced the lasers, destroying them with large bolts of electricity flying from the orbs, before they fell into the CORE's depths. _“uhhhh...Nevermind then…”_

Frisk flipped the switch and moved forward across the glass plated bridge. With each step, the feeling of something wrong kept finding it's way into the back of Frisk's head. “Alphys, what’s with all the bone attacks?”

_“I-I’m not sure, b-but they seem to be in our favor!”_

“Seems like it, but still-” Frisk was distracted by a nearby terminal springing to life. She risked a look, only to stare on with a bemused expression.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ 👍︎✌︎💧︎💧︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎🖳︎ ⌛︎

☞︎☜︎💣︎✌︎☹︎☜︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ 👍︎✡︎✌︎☠︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✞︎✋︎☼︎❄︎🕆︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 🏱︎✌︎❄︎☜︎✋︎☠︎👍︎☜︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎👎︎ ❄︎☜︎💣︎🏱︎☜︎☼︎✌︎❄︎🕆︎☼︎☜︎💧︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 💧︎✋︎👍︎😐︎☠︎☜︎💧︎💧︎ 👍︎⚐︎💣︎👌︎✋︎☠︎☜︎👎︎

💣︎✌︎👎︎☜︎ ✋︎❄︎ ✌︎👌︎⚐︎🕆︎❄︎ 🗄︎☞︎❄︎ ✌︎🕈︎✌︎✡︎ ☞︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☼︎🕆︎✋︎☠︎💧︎ 👌︎☜︎☞︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎☹︎✌︎🏱︎💧︎✋︎☠︎☝︎

Frisk raised a brow and walked away from the terminal “What the heck?”

_“Th-that’s never turned on before!! B-but I can’t understand it…”_ Alphys hummed in thought. _“A-anyway, you’re at a c-crossroads..."_ Frisk tapped her foot while the sound of crumbled papers emitted from the phone. _"Try heading straight!”_

Frisk followed the instructions, and ignored the left turn, which was blocked by a wall of bones as soon as she passed it. She reached a bridge which was bombarded with lasers. Before she could ask Alphys for help, a giant skeletal, dragon like head, similar to Papyrus' blasters, appeared from nowhere, and evaporated all the lasers. Frisk stood still, before crossing the bridge. She made a turn and found a SAVE point, and the start of a maze.

_“O-ok, you should..."_ More sounds of paper emitted from the phone, making Frisk nervous. _"_ _y-you should..."_ Alphys stammered, before the sound of something hitting a desk was heard from the phone. _"I don’t know?”_

“What do you mean?” Frisk raised a brow and her voice slightly. "How can you not know?!"

_“This looks nothing like my map at all! I...I have to go!”_

“Alphys, wait!” Frisk called out for the scientist, but the call had been ended, and any attempts Frisk made to call back were futile. “Damn it!”

***I can help. Have been the last couple of minutes. Just go where I say.**

Frisk nodded, but wasn’t sure at who, or why she did in general, since a voice in your head isn't exactly the best source when it came to things. She approached the SAVE point and touched it.

**The air is filled with the smell of ozone...It fills you with determination.**

**Frisk**

**FILE SAVED**

**LV 1**

Frisk looked around, and headed to her left. A terminal turned on, which prompted her to look at it. Once again, she was lost.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ ✌︎☹︎☜︎✠︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎🖳︎ 🖰︎

💣︎✌︎☹︎☜︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ ⚐︎☼︎✌︎☠︎☝︎☜︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✞︎✋︎☼︎❄︎🕆︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👌︎☼︎✌︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ 😐︎✌︎☼︎💣︎✋︎👍︎ ☼︎☜︎❄︎☼︎✋︎👌︎🕆︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎

❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎ ✋︎❄︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎ ✌︎☠︎ ✌︎👍︎👍︎✋︎👎︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📪︎ ☟︎✋︎💧︎ ☹︎✞︎ ☼︎✌︎✋︎💧︎☜︎👎︎ ☜︎☠︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎ ✌︎☞︎☞︎☜︎👍︎❄︎☜︎👎︎ 👌︎✡︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☜︎☞︎☞︎☜︎👍︎❄︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 😐︎☼︎ 💣︎✌︎☝︎✋︎👍︎

“What is this?” Frisk asked herself.

***Death Reports**

Frisk felt a chill run down her spine, but pressed on anyway. She saw a block of ice fall into the depths of the CORE, but pressed on. To her left was a puzzle, with a terminal saying the end would open up if it was finished. She went into the puzzle room, and began shifting the blocks around to get a good use of her two bullets. “Who even came up with these puzzles?” Frisk asked as she fired.

***Sans. He found a couple of old human games, and well…**

“You know Sans?” Frisk asked the voice.

***In many ways.**

Frisk went straight up, and found a lone trash can. “Ok?” Frisk ignored it and looked at a nearby terminal.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ ✌︎☹︎✡︎💧︎💧︎✌︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎🖳︎ 📂︎📂︎

☞︎☜︎💣︎✌︎☹︎☜︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ 👌︎☹︎🕆︎☜︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ✋︎☠︎❄︎☜︎☝︎☼︎✋︎❄︎✡︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ 👎︎☼︎⚐︎🕈︎☠︎☜︎👎︎

❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☼︎☜︎☜︎ 👎︎⚐︎🕈︎☠︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☼︎☜︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☝︎⚐︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☜︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ 👌︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎ 🏱︎☹︎✌︎👍︎☜︎

Frisk rubbed her eyes and sighed. “What is this font anyway?”

***WingDings**

“WingDings…?" Frisk looked back up at the terminal, and then huffed. "How’s anyone supposed to read this?”

***Practice. Also, there’s a Glamburger in the trash can. It may feel weird, but healing is important!**

“Ok?” Frisk looked inside the trash, and indeed, there was a Glamburger. She sighed and fished it out, feeling really disgusted, but with a sense that someone, other than the disembodied voice, approved of her action. “Who are you anyway? Why can I hear you, but not see you?”

***Who I am is not important, but you’re able to commune with me thanks to the CORE.**

Frisk raised a brow. “Do I have time to ask?”

***Not at the moment, no.**

Frisk turned and read the terminal, which stated that the end will open in the northern room. Frisk entered the room and crossed the bridge. An entire group of monsters were trapped behind a cage of blue bones. She flipped a switch and left the area, glancing back at the captive monsters. “I take it you're the one trapping the enemies.”

***Guilty as charged.**

Frisk giggled. “Thanks…”

***Anytime, Frisk. Turn left and then make another one after that, there’s a trash can with 100G inside.**

Frisk did just that, and approached the trash can, and looked inside, where there was indeed 100G. Frisk grinned and took the G, and then walked up to another terminal, where more Wingdings appeared on the screen.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ 💧︎✌︎💣︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎ 📂︎📂︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ 🏱︎🕆︎☼︎🏱︎☹︎☜︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 🏱︎☼︎☜︎💧︎☜︎☼︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ 💧︎🕆︎✋︎👍︎✋︎👎︎☜︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 💧︎☹︎✋︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎☜︎☼︎ ⚐︎🕈︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☼︎⚐︎✌︎❄︎📬︎

✌︎ 💧︎☟︎✌︎💣︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎📬︎ ☞︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☹︎⚐︎⚐︎😐︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ✋︎❄︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 💣︎✌︎👎︎☜︎ ☝︎⚐︎⚐︎👎︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎☜︎💧︎📬︎ ✋︎ 🕈︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎🕯︎✞︎☜︎ ☹︎⚐︎✞︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎✌︎☹︎😐︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎

Frisk sighed and left the room, passing by a few more terminals, that she stopped and glanced at, before moving on.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ ☹︎🕆︎😐︎☜︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎🖳︎ 📂︎🗏︎

💣︎✌︎☹︎☜︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ ☝︎☼︎☜︎☜︎☠︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎👎︎☠︎☜︎💧︎💧︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎✋︎☠︎☝︎☹︎✡︎ ☝︎✋︎✞︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ☟︎✋︎💧︎ 💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎

✌︎ ☠︎⚐︎👌︎☹︎☜︎ ☝︎☜︎💧︎❄︎🕆︎☼︎☜︎📪︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ 👎︎☜︎❄︎☼︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☠︎❄︎✌︎☹︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎💧︎ ☜︎💣︎⚐︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎✌︎☹︎ 💧︎❄︎✌︎❄︎☜︎

“Are these...About the fallen children?” Frisk asked, earning no response from the voice. She sighed and continued on, only side eyeing the next terminal.

☠︎✌︎💣︎☜︎🖳︎ 👍︎☹︎⚐︎✞︎☜︎☼︎

✌︎☝︎☜︎🖳︎ 📂︎🗐︎

☠︎⚐︎☠︎📫︎👌︎✋︎☠︎✌︎☼︎✡︎

💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎🖳︎ ✡︎☜︎☹︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👍︎⚐︎☹︎⚐︎☼︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ☺︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎✋︎👍︎☜︎

👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎✌︎❄︎☟︎🖳︎ ☼︎☜︎💣︎☜︎💣︎👌︎☼︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 🏱︎✌︎💧︎❄︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☹︎✋︎☠︎☜︎💧︎ 👎︎🕆︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☜︎✠︎❄︎☼︎☜︎💣︎☜︎ 👍︎✌︎💧︎☜︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👎︎☜︎☺︎✌︎ ✞︎🕆︎📬︎ ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎🕯︎💧︎ 👍︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎✌︎☠︎❄︎ ☼︎☜︎💧︎☜︎❄︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 👍︎✌︎🕆︎💧︎☜︎👎︎ 👍︎☹︎⚐︎✞︎☜︎☼︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 💧︎☟︎⚐︎⚐︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎💧︎☜︎☹︎☞︎ ✋︎☠︎ ☞︎☼︎⚐︎☠︎❄︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎

  
  


Frisk entered a crossroads, and turned left, seeing a bridge. She took a look at the nearby terminal.

💧︎⚐︎ ☞︎✌︎☼︎📪︎ 👌︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎ 👍︎✌︎💧︎💧︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ✌︎☹︎☜︎✠︎ ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ ❄︎🕆︎☼︎☠︎☜︎👎︎ ⚐︎🕆︎❄︎ ☜︎✠︎✌︎👍︎❄︎☹︎✡︎ ✌︎💧︎ ✋︎ 💧︎✌︎🕈︎📬︎ 🕈︎☟︎✋︎👍︎☟︎ 💣︎☜︎✌︎☠︎💧︎ ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎📬︎ ✋︎ 🕈︎✋︎💧︎☟︎ ✋︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎ 💣︎☜︎☜︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎ ✌︎☹︎☹︎📪︎ 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✞︎⚐︎✋︎👎︎ 💧︎👍︎☜︎☠︎✌︎☼︎✋︎⚐︎📪︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎ 🕈︎✌︎✡︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☜︎☠︎💧︎🕆︎☼︎☜︎ 👍︎☟︎✌︎☼︎✌︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☞︎☼︎✋︎💧︎😐︎ ☝︎⚐︎ ⚐︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☺︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎☠︎☜︎✡︎ ❄︎⚐︎☝︎☜︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎📬︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☞︎☼︎☜︎☜︎ 🕆︎💧︎ ✌︎☹︎☹︎📬︎ ✋︎ 😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎🕯︎☼︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎ ☞︎☼︎✋︎💧︎😐︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ✋︎ 💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 💧︎✌︎✡︎🖳︎ ☝︎⚐︎⚐︎👎︎ ☹︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎📬︎🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☞︎✋︎☠︎✋︎💧︎☟︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎☜︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ ✌︎🏱︎🏱︎☜︎✌︎☼︎📬︎ ☞︎⚐︎☹︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☼︎🕆︎👍︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎ 🕈︎☼︎✋︎❄︎❄︎☜︎☠︎ ⚐︎☠︎ ✋︎❄︎📪︎ 💧︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👌︎☜︎💧︎❄︎ ☜︎☠︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ ⚐︎👍︎👍︎🕆︎☼︎📬︎ ☼︎☜︎💣︎☜︎💣︎👌︎☜︎☼︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✌︎🕆︎✋︎👎︎✋︎☜︎☠︎👍︎☜︎ 👍︎☼︎✌︎✞︎☜︎💧︎ ✌︎ ☝︎⚐︎⚐︎👎︎ 💧︎☟︎⚐︎🕈︎📪︎ 💧︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎ 💧︎🕆︎☼︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☝︎✋︎✞︎☜︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎ ⚐︎☠︎☜︎✏︎

A piece of paper appeared in Frisk's hand. She looked at it, and became confused. 'Give this to Sans in the judgment hall'. "Is that nearby?" Frisk asked, but nobody answered. Frisk sighed and pocketed the note. She crossed the bridge without issue, and spotted an open door, and a SAVE point. Obviously, she approached the SAVE point first.

**Behind this door is the elevator to the king’s castle. You are filled with determination. Knock ‘em dead, kid.**

**Frisk**

**FILE SAVED**

**LV 1**

* * *

Frisk entered the doorway, and saw Mettaton standing dead center, with Chara behind him, trapped behind a prison of blue lasers. Frisk got as close as she could to the captive Chara. “Chara, are you ok?”

“I should be asking you that, since this stupid bucket of bolts made you go through the CORE alone!” Chara shouted from behind his blue captivity.

“OH RELAX, SHE TURNED OUT FINE!!” Mettaton said, clearly annoyed. “BESIDES, THIS WAS THE PERFECT SET UP FOR OUR FINAL SHOWDOWN! A RESCUE MISSION TO SAVE THE DARLING HUMAN PRINCE, AND PUT AN END TO THE “MALFUNCTIONING” ROBOT!” Mettaton disabled the lasers keeping Chara trapped. “EXCEPT NOT!!! MALFUNCTION? REPROGRAMMING?? GET REAL!! THIS WAS ALL AN ACT!!!”

“An act?” The two said in unison.

“A SHOW, SET UP BY ALPHYS." Meetaon sighed and cleaned his screen with a napkin. "AS SHE WATCHED YOU TWO ON SCREEN, SHE BECAME ATTACHED, AND WANTED TO INSERT HERSELF INTO YOUR STORY! SHE REACTIVATED THE PUZZLES, SHE DISABLED THE ELEVATORS, AND SHE ENLISTED ME TO TORMENT YOU, ALL SO SHE COULD HAVE HER BIG MOMENT IN THE SPOTLIGHT, AS THE ONE TO SAVE OUR TWO HEROES FROM THE DEFECTIVE MACHINE!!” Mettaton explained, earning looks of confusion and betrayal from the two humans. “HONESTLY, THE LONGER IT WENT ON, THE MORE PREDICTABLE IT BECAME. BESIDES, YOU’RE NOT TRYING TO RETURN TO THE SURFACE. YOU TRYING TO STOP ASGORE FROM CONTINUING HIS PLAN. TRYING TO STOP HIM FROM WIPING OUT HUMANITY. WE SHARE THE SAME INTEREST!!” Mettaton wrapped an arm around both humans.

“What?” Frisk asked.

“I LOVE HUMANITY!!! MY ONLY DESIRE IS TO ENTERTAIN!!! HUMANITY GAVE ME THAT DESIRE!!” Mettaton explained. “THAT’S HOW ALPHYS CAME TO GIVE ME THIS BODY!!”

“Gave you?” Chara asked.

“A ROBOT WITH A SOUL IS IMPOSSIBLE!! I’M A GHOST WHO WAS GIVEN THIS FORM…” Mettaton seemed dejected for a bit. “STILL, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO HARM HUMANS...HOWEVER, THE UNDERGROUND IS SMALL. IT LACKS A CERTAIN SPARK THAT THE SURFACE HAS...SO WE SHARE THE SAME GOAL OF STOPPING THIS WAR, BUT YOU WISH TO STAY DOWN HERE." Mettaton wheeled away from the humans and turned to face them. "WITH YOUR SOULS, I CAN STOP ASGORE, AND GO TO THE SURFACE, TO OBTAIN ULTIMATE STARDOM!!!” Music then filled the room, that sounded more mechanical than the first time, as the two humans stared Mettaton's red screen down.

_"~SO NOW YOU KNOW, IT WAS ALL A BIG SHOW!_

_SHE PLAYED_ YOU _FOR FOOLS, AND ME AS YOUR FOE!_

_AND ALL THIS DANGER, IT HAS BEEN ARRAGNED_

_BY THE DEAR DOCTOR HERSELF!_

Mettaton raised a hand in the air and primed his fingers to snap.

_"BUT SHE FORGOT_

_THERE'S A TWIST IN THE PLOT!_

He snapped his fingers and the door closed behind him. nearly drowned out by the music was the constant banging on the door, and the sound of a distressed Alphys from the other side. _"O-oh my god! I-I'm locked out!"_ Mettaton then wheeled himself from the side to the other side of the room, staring the humans down.

_"THE EFFORT'S FOR NAUGHT!_

He raised his hands in the air, which seemed to light up the stage, and propel it skywards, disorienting the two humans even further than the CORE already did. He produced a microphone and a couple of camera's appeared.

_"WE WILL DRIVE YOU WILD, WITH THE DEATH OF THESE CHILDS!_

_HERE TONIGHT, ON **ATTACK OF THE DEATH ROBOT!** ~"_

“That sounds interesting, but there’s something you didn’t take into account!” Chara said, finally finding his balance to stand up.

“AND WHAT’S TH-” Chara quickly ran behind Mettaton, and the sound of a switch was heard, as the music suddenly cut. “DID YOU JUST FLIP...MY SWITCH?”

“Noticed it while I was trapped.” Chara smirked, returning to Frisk's side.

“CLEVER...VERY CLEVER…” Mettaton started to shake uncontrollably, and the lights on his screen flickered like the tile puzzle. His dials turned over and over, until the room was filled with smoke, and a bright light. “OOOOHHHH YEEESSS!!!”


	32. Death By Glamour!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bonus points for anyone who can list off all the inspirations for this chapter!

Stage lights descended from nowhere, highlighting the cloud of smoke. Chara and Frisk shielded their eyes from the bright lights, staring at the shadowed form in the middle. “Ohhh my. If you’ve flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing: You’re desperate for the premiere of my new body!”

“You’re...What?” Chara muttered.

“How rude…Luckily for you, I’ve been aching to show this off for a long time. So as thanks, I’ll give you a special reward. I’ll make your last moments-” The smoke cleared, to reveal Mettaton’s new form, which quite literally looked like a real life anime character, with winged eyeliner, contrasting with his metallic face, with a single pinkish purple eye with his new chest and boots being the same color. A pink heart laid dormant inside a glass box on Mettaton's new waist. “ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL!!!”

* * *

Sans, Papyrus and Undyne were all at Grillby’s. Papyrus didn’t really want to go, but Undyne liked it, and he didn’t want to let her down. Well, there was one thing there he liked to get. “ONE MILKSHAKE PLEASE!” Papyrus said to Grillby.

“Aw come on, Pap, at least get something different!” Undyne grumbled.

“A MILKSHAKE CONTAINS BOTH MILK, AND ICE CREAM!!" Papyrus explained, as if it would make a difference. "THE PERFECT SET UP TO KEEP MY BONES NICE AND HEALTHY!!”

“plus, it’s pretty darn good.” Sans added.

Papyrus snapped a finger gun to Sans without even looking at the shorter skeleton. “THAT TOO!”

Sans took a drink from his soda, and glanced at the TV, where the kids were face to face with Mettaton. He normally wouldn’t give it a second glance, except they were in the CORE. Where they could easily fall off and end up like...Well, let’s just say that Sans did a spit take. Fortunately, Grillby was fast, and dodged it. “Sans, we talked about this!” Grillby reprimanded Sans, who just pointed to the TV. Everyone in the place looked at the showing, and gasped.

* * *

[“Lights, Camera, ACTION!!!”](https://youtu.be/wG8-i-xOtww) Mettaton announced, prompting a roaring applause. The humans looked around and saw several monsters crowding around, putting together that somehow, Mettaton turned the place into a stage for a concert. “Are you alive Hotland?” The crowd cheered louder. “I can’t hear you!!” Even louder prompting Mettaton to laugh. “Let’s dance!” Mettaton launched to the two humans, swiping at them whilst also making several poses in the meantime. They dodged most of the swipes, but Mettaton managed to land a kick on Frisk, who was launched backwards. (Violence +50) Mettaton laughed and wiggled his finger. Chara stood between them, pissed as all hell, but physically restraining the urge to start throwing knives around.

“Why go through the trouble of going to the surface if you have so many fans already down here?" Chara asked, his voice straining to be heard over the music. "Aren’t they the ones who got you to this point?” (Logic +100)

“Hmm, you do make a good point darling.” Mettaton replied, before grinning while doing the splits. "However, if I'm going to stop Asgore and save humanity, why not go all the way then and break the barrier? That way, everyone wins!" (MTT-Brand logic +150)

Frisk stood up and wiped away some blood while the two were talking. She noticed something odd about this fight. Nothing changed about the world, it usually goes monochrome for fights, but it was still colorful. If this was a fight, why not go through the standard rules? _My favorite Mettaton moment is when he makes a dramatic pose, if something goes wrong! Like on his cooking show, and the eggs don’t turn out like he thought!_ Frisk thought back to that little conversation while they were doing the puzzles. Then it clicked. This wasn’t a fight, it was a show! and the show must go on! She stood in front of Chara and looked Mettaton in the eyes, before posing dramatically. (Dramatic!+150)

“Frisk what are you-” Chara looked where Mettaton was, and saw a ratings board, just behind the robot. Mettaton stared shocked. Chara's eyes widened when he also saw that the ratings were climbing up after Frisk's pose. "Ah, I think I get it!" Mettaton let loose smaller Mettaton bots, as well as some bombs. Chara and Frisk used their phones to turn their SOULS yellow, and took out the bots, making them crumble to the ground and explode, while ignoring the bombs. The ratings increased by twenty each time the two took out a bot.

“Aren’t you worried about the repercussions of killing the human prince?" Frisk pointed out. "What if Asgore finds out you tried to kill Chara purely for selfish reasons?” (Logic +100)

“Everyone has almost killed the prince for their own selfish reasons!" Mettaton replied swiftly. "If Asgore was worried, he’d have intervened by now!” (Counterclaim +150)

“That’s...That’s actually a good point.” Chara muttered. (Agreement +150+)

Mettaton stood on one leg, balancing himself on the tip of his boot, while he threw his hands and other leg in the air, while he flashed a grin with his tounge sticking out, before sending out more Metta-bots, this time he was also part of the action! Chara took out the bots while Frisk dodged Mettaton’s swipes, the two pulling off a finishing pose afterwards. (Dramatic! +100) (Double the fabulous! +150)

“But then why go through the trouble of announcing I was alive?" Chara asked when the action died down. "Surely you couldn’t have planned on Asgore not intervening.” Chara said. (logic +150)

“Simple, the audience loves a good dramatic twist!" Mettaton explained. "And what bigger twist is there than a previously dead royal coming to life?” (MTT-Brand logic +200)

“You sure talk big, but I bet we can dodge your next attacks without so much as a scratch!” Frisk challenged, with a smirk. Chara looked to Frisk like she was crazy, but just sighed and went along with it. (ratings gradually increase during the attack)

“Oh really?” Mettaton released a few bombs, each with a white box next to them. Chara and Frisk shot the bomb and then moved out of the blast zone. The white box disappeared from the blast, with that knowledge, the two passed by without so much as a scratch.

“But think about this, humans caused the war because of fear, and the prince died because of the same reason (logic +100), so who’s to say humanity will accept you with open arms?" Frisk commented, drawing out murmurs from the crowd. "You’re a robot who came from the mountain filled with monsters." Frisk added with a point to Mettaton. "Who’s to say that same fear won’t make them think you’re a weapon?” (VERY sound logic +300)

“Th-That’s…” (Stumped +200) Mettaton huffed. “Well, since you're so good at talking, how good are you at writing? Pop quiz darlings!” Mettaton produced a pen and paper for the two humans. “What do you like most about Mettaton? No ‘X’ or ‘Z’ allowed!” Frisk and Chara took a glance at Mettaton and wrote their answers. They handed their answers back to Mettaton. “From the prince, ‘Your hair is nice.’, Why thank you! I use metallic hair gel. And from his friend. ‘Your legs are pretty fabulous.’” Chara shot Frisk a look.

“Tell me I’m wrong.” Frisk said, folding her arms.

“Far from it!" Mettaton replied with a wide smile. He shot a leg up in the air and gestured to it. "Legs was the correct answer!” (writing +550)

Chara sighed, and then took out his phone, opening one of the boxes. He equipped the Cowboy Hat stored within. (Fashion +300) Frisk does the same, and pulled out a stick. She wasn’t exactly sure why she kept it, nor why she didn't sell it off to the Temmies, but instead of questioning it, she threw it towards Mettaton, who jumped and caught it in his mouth with a wink. (Fetching! +700) “Those essay’s really showed everyone your hearts! Now how about I show you mine?” A chamber holding Mettaton’s pink heart opened, and it flew out, firing lightning bolt shaped bullets, as Metta-bots strolled down, firing heart shaped bullets. Frisk and Chara focused their aim on the heart, but would get hit by the other bullets. (Violence! +20-+10-+10)

Frisk jumped back, and pulled out one of the Glamburgers. The audience went wild at the sight as she took a bite of it's contents. _Huh...For something made of sequins and glue, this isn’t that bad!_ Frisk thought. (On brand food! +500) Chara drank one of the Starfaits, finishing it off with a satisfied grin. (On brand food! +300)

“Not bad, but how are you on the dance floor?” Mettaton produced a disco ball, which beamed pure white lasers that moved all over the place. The humans stumbled around, and one of the lasers passed through Chara, giving him a shock. He collapsed to his knees on the floor, and as Frisk picked him up, the two noticed Mettaton dancing his way past the lasers, not getting hit. The two went wide eyed, and, with a little hesitation from Chara, began a dance similar to how a couple danced at a ball. They passed by the lasers unharmed, and Frisk aimed her SOUL at the disco ball, turning the lasers blue with a single shot.

“That’s good to know!" Chara said at the sight. He turned to Frisk and smiled. "Nice job!” (Encouragement! +80)

“But can you pick up the pace?” The disco ball returned to it's previous color, and changed it's position and got faster as well. Frisk and Chara just barely dodged the first couple of lasers, before Chara fired his SOUL at the disco ball from a distance. The lasers turned blue, before the ball disappeared completely.

“I bet we’ll pass this next one without a single scratch!” Chara challenged, with a dramatic point towards Mettaton, and a smirk. (ratings gradually increase during the attack, but what’s this!?) Frisk made a heel turn, and stuck her tongue out. (not only do the ratings gradually increase, but if Frisk fails, the audience will love the vengeance)

“We’ve grown so distant darlings!" Mettaton said, brushing off the challenge and heel turn. "How about another heart to heart?” Mettaton’s heart was surrounded by boxes, that the two needed to get rid of, whilst also dodging the bullets. Frisk got scratched by one of the boxes as they dispersed (JUSTICE! +100) but Chara remained unscathed. The attack on Mettaton’s heart _(literally)_ caused him to lose his arms. 

“Ha, your arms are off!” Chara smirked.

“A-arms? Who needs arms with legs like these and style like this?” Mettaton sent out bombs and boxes. Frisk and Chara shot the boxes to avoid getting blown to bits, but after a certain point, the bombs came back from behind them. “Enough games!" Mettaton cried out, his tone getting even more agitated. "Do you really want humanity to perish? Or do you truly think you’ll be able to convince Asgore to stop? What makes you think he'd be willing to, after getting this far already?” (Thought provoking question +400)

“Honestly, I don’t know. At this point it sounds impossible to convince him. But, that doesn’t mean I won’t try!” Chara replied, getting the crowd to roar with anticipation. (DETERMINATION +500)

“We made it this far! Why give up now?! Besides, I know Chara can reach out to him!” Frisk added, getting the crowd even more riled up. (HOPE +500)

“Hahaha!! How inspiring!! Well then darlings, if you believe you can do it, then show us your DETERMINATION!! Your HOPE!!!” Mettaton tapped his feet to the music, sending out his heart once more. Frisk was also starting to get sucked into the music, and honestly, so was Chara. So instead of taking the chance to take aim at Mettaton’s heart, they dodged the bullets and attacks to the beat of the music. Mettaton grinned, and joined them. He may not have his arms to fully get into the rhythm, but as he said, who needs arms with legs like his? “Come on, humans! They’re watching us! Put on your best moves!!” 

The three danced to the music, with the humans sliding under Mettaton’s jumps, and occasionally pulling off synchronized moves, without even having practiced. The trio danced, pulled off poses, Mettaton and Chara provided a magic show throughout. Frisk tried to do a backflip, and almost landed on her feet, but she didn’t quite nail the landing, and she almost fell backwards. Chara caught her and pulled her up. “You good?” Chara asked. (Concern! +40)

Frisk smiled, and gave Chara a kiss. Chara was wide eyed in shock, but after a few seconds, his eyes closed and he pulled her closer by her shoulders. (Romance!! +10,000) Frisk broke it off and her smile turned into a huge grin. “Yep!” Chara chuckled and the two embraced.

* * *

Back at Grillby’s, everyone who was watching broke out into an applause. Sans grinned and took a sip of his soda, while Papyrus and a few members of the Canine Unit were going absolutely insane. Undyne just stared at the TV. “When the hell did that happen?” She asked.

“pretty sure people were counting on it to happen since about 14 chapters ago.” Sans replied calmly.

* * *

If Mettaton had arms he’d be clapping. “Darlings, I speak for the entire audience when I say: It’s about time!” Frisk chuckled, while Chara rolled his eyes. “And just look at these ratings! This is the most viewers I’ve ever had!!” The two looked at the ratings board, which was nearing the 20,000 range. 

“Wow!” Was all Chara had to say.

“I think we just proved that what the audience really wanted was romance!” Frisk said cheerfully.

“I’ll make a mental note of that.” Mettaton replied. “Besides, this means we’ve reached the viewer call-in milestone!! One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to either me, Mettaton, or the humans. Heck, why not both!! Let’s see who calls in first!” There was a hint of tension in the air as the three waited for the caller. Mettaton held his robotic breath, while Frisk and Chara just stood holding hands.

_Ring...Ring…_

“Hi, you’re on TV darling!! Anything you’d like to say?”

_“Oh…. Hi...Mettaton…”_ Mettaton froze at the sound of the voice.

_“Napstablook?”_ Frisk whispered.

_“I really liked watching your show… My life is pretty boring… But… Seeing you on the screen brought excitement to my life… Vicariously-”_ Mettaton’s demeanor started to crumble. _“I can’t tell, but… I guess this is the last episode?”_

“W-Well I-You see-It-It’s-” Mettaton was a nervous wreck, for some reason.

_“Oh….I didn’t mean to talk so long…”_ Napstablook said, thinking that the long call was throwing Mettaton off. _“I’ll miss you...Mettacrit…”_ Mettaton's eyes went very wide.

“NO, WAIT!! WAIT, BLO-BLOOKY, I-” The call ended. “Th...They hung up…” Mettaton looked ready to burst into tears, but he quickly put on a brave face. “I-I’ll take another caller!!”

_Ring...Ring…_

_“Mettaton, your show made us so happy!”_

_Ring...Ring..._

_“Mettaton, I don’t know what I’ll watch without you.”_

_Ring...Ring..._

_“_ _Mettaton, there’s a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart!”_

“I...Ah…” Mettaton took a minute to process the calls. He turned to Chara, looking downcast. “Well, your majesty, it seems you had a stronger point than I initially thought.” Mettaton sighed. "I guess my statement afterwards, wasn't enough..."

“Yeah, I tend to be right sometimes!” Chara grinned as Frisk held back her laughter.

“Well you don’t need to get sarcastic with me right now.” Mettaton deadpanned.

“Sorry, sorry.” 

“Well, with this newfound information, what will you do now?” Frisk asked.

“Well, I think it might be best if I stay down here. After all, if you convince Asgore to stop, then this place still has the need of it’s star!” Mettaton grinned, before putting on a solemn face. “Humans already have their stars and idols, but I’m all the monsters have. It’d be a shame to rob them of that. Besides, if Asgore does call off the war, and humans happen to fall underground, heh, well, I can be patient!” Mettaton smiled.

“That’s good.” Frisk smiled back.

“Just no more roping them into death traps…” Chara joked.

“I wouldn’t dream of it darling!” Mettaton chuckled. “This is for the best anyway. This form’s energy consumption…”

“It’s still experimental.” Chara guessed. “So you’ll run out of power soon.”

“I’m afraid so. Alphys had been trying to finish it, but I guess I was a bit too…” Mettaton sighed. “I owe her an apology. Among others as well…” Mettaton looked to the ground, and then perked up. “Well, I’ll be alright! After all, I doubt a few bad moments is enough to make Alphys hate me enough to not restore my power!” Mettaton grinned.

“She doesn’t really seem like the type to hold a grudge.” Chara commented. “Unless it’s with herself.”

“True...But, I’m sure you’ll be able to help with that, when this is all over!” Chara and Frisk smiled, and nodded. “Knock ‘em dead darlings! And to everyone watching, YOU’VE BEEN A GREAT AUDIENCE!!!” Mettaton powered down, and collapsed to the floor with a hardy thunk. Chara walked to the powered down robot, and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

“You’re not so bad…” Chara smiled. Frisk walked up to Chara, and pulled him into a hug. He returned the embrace. “By the way, how’d you get here so fast?” he asked.

Frisk broke off the hug. “I’ll explain later.”

“You better, because I was worried sick.”

“Of course you were.” Frisk rolled her eyes. Chara blushed.

“Well, yeah. We’re partners. We’re in this together. In more ways than one…” Chara smiled, and gave Frisk another kiss.

The two separated quickly when the door opened up, and Alphys’ voice rang out. “I… I managed to open the lock! Are you three…?” She stopped when she saw Mettaton. “Oh my god. Mettaton! Mettaton are you…”

“Relax, he just ran out of batteries.” Chara explained.

“Oh thank god...If he was gone, I would have...I would have…” Alphys swallowed her words. “I-I mean...It-It’s no problem! He-he’s a robot! If you messed it up, I-I could always…”

“Mettaton said he was a ghost you gave a body to." Frisk said, earning a flinch from Alphys. "Napstablook called him, Mettacrit.”

“A-Ah…” Alphys looked back to Mettaton. “He was hoping Napstablook wouldn’t find out…”

“Alphys…” Chara said sternly.

“Y-Yes?” Alphys slightly cowered behind her hands, but her worry quickly turned into confusion when Chara gently put a hand on her shoulder.

“You didn’t need to set this all up to be a part of things. We were going to need your help anyway. What with the questions we had back at the lab, and the directions needed for the CORE. You didn’t need this elaborate show.” Chara said.

“O-oh...He spilled the beans huh?” Alphys looked back to Mettaton.

“He did, but like Chara said, you didn’t need this whole set up. You were going to be helpful either way.” Frisk gave a patient smile.

Alphys remained silent. “Y-you know where to go from here. I-I need some time alone. Both to help Mettaton and… Because I need to think about some things.”

“Take all the time you need, Alphys. We’re not leaving the underground anytime soon.” Frisk replied.

“B-but why?" Alphys asked, looking up at Frisk. "Why do you want to stay down here? Don’t you have a family on the surface?”

Frisk looked at the floor solemnly. _“I don’t...I don’t want to see them again…”_

Alphys looked at Chara, who looked just as upset. “A-ah. I see...W-well, good luck!”

“Thanks…” Chara muttered. “But, we might need to restock first.”

“Of course!" Alphys nodded, before she went wide eyed and turned to the humans, looking renewed with vigor. "In fact, let me help you! I-it’s the least I could do!”

"But didn't you just say-"

"I-I can wait for that alone time!! Trust me!!"

* * *

The two weren’t sure what alphys had planned, but she told them it might take a few days. Honestly, that’s a good thing, since the two wanted to visit Papyrus and Undyne. The rips and tears in their outfits weren’t helping with the cold however. The quickly made their way to Papyrus’ house, and stepped inside. “Papyrus? Undyne? Sans?” Chara called out.

“Toby?” Frisk added. No one answered. The two shrugged and sat down on the couch, deciding that waiting in the house was more worth it than going out into the freezing cold again. They waited for about a minute before Sans walked out from the kitchen. He paused when he saw the two.

“I’m just going to assume you used a shortcut.” Chara said.

“correct you are. but, uh, aren’t you two supposed to be heading to asgore?” Sans asked.

“Well we wanted to restock just in case we needed to go through an endurance test, and Alphys wanted to help. She said it was going to take a few days, which we’re ok with.” Frisk explained.

“Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to see how everyone’s doing!” Chara smiled.

“ok yeah that makes sense.” Sans nodded.

“Did you see the show?” Chara asked.

“everyone at grillby’s did. and when frisk did that, the whole place exploded.” Chara and Frisk blushed. Sans grinned. “undyne was confused as all hell though, which was pretty funny to see.” The three chuckled. They all stopped when the door bursted open, with an angry Undyne entering the house and a worried Papyrus right behind her.

“Listen here, next time you use a shortcut, at least take us with you!" Undyne shouted at Sans, lifting him up in the air by his sweater. "You know how much I hate the cold!!”

“UNDYNE BE CAREFUL OF HIS HP!!” Papyrus cried out, before he looked at the couch. “HUMANS!!! YOU’RE HERE TO VISIT!!!” The two nodded and Papyrus pulled them into a hug. When he let go, Undyne approached the two.

“That was a pretty good show punks!!” Undyne gave the humans each a noogie. “I’m surprised you didn’t kick the crap out of him!!”

“Oh trust me, every time Frisk got hurt I had to restrain myself.” Chara replied.

“Yeah...Sans clued me in on that." Undyne replied, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Y’know...After that whole kiss thing…”

“Were you the only one surprised by that?” Frisk asked. “Because the way Sans mentioned it, he made it sound like you never had a clue.”

“Ah, well, I kinda didn’t…”

“So does that mean you didn’t notice the Hotland guards crushing on each other?” Chara asked.

“They were?” Undyne was shocked. The two face palmed.

“anyway, alphys is doing something for them, so they ain’t going to the capital for a few days.” Sans explained.

“We want to take the chance to hang out with some friends. And maybe see how Mom’s doing.” Chara said.

“MISS TORIEL IS DOING JUST FINE, BUT I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERN!!" Papyrus patted their heads. "BESIDES, WHO AM I TO SAY NO TO HANGING OUT?! NYEH HEH HEH!!”

Chara and Frisk chuckled. “Oh, did she see the fight?” Frisk asked.

“Well, no.” Undyne replied, before moving closer to Papyrus. “I think it’s safe to say that no one here should mention our fights with you guys.” Undyne covered Papyrus’...Ears? _“We don’t want to end up on her shit list like Asgore is…”_ The humans nodded. Undyne let go of Papyrus' skull, ignoring the confused look the tall skeleton gave her, and placed her hands on her hips. “well, since we have a few days, what do you guys want to do first?”

* * *

Luke watched on as Papyrus, Undyne and the two living humans started to cook. Chara and Frisk decided to take charge, so as to not burn down the house. Luke sighed in relief, since he didn’t want another disaster like Undyne’s attempt. Alyssa and Cass were idle in the living room, Alyssa gushing over the whole performance, while Cass just listened to Alyssa talk. “The fact that W.D. was even able to help her when she entered the CORE…” Alyssa sighed. “Lucky! I would’ve killed to join in on that fight, even if I was just telling them what they should do…”

“It was pretty cool!” Cass said. “And now they have time to relax before facing Asgore!”

“Yeah…” Luke responded quietly. “What’ll happen to our SOULS?”

“Mettaton was a ghost inside of a machine, so maybe they could keep the SOULS and merge them into robots like him!” Cass replied.

“Oh, that sounds awesome!!” Alyssa beamed, before her smile wavered. “Wait… Our SOULS are cracked… They might shatter if moved too much…”

“Exactly…” Luke said.

Cass looked back and forth between the two, and huffed. “NO!”

“No?” The two echoed.

“You guys are not allowed to be thinking sad thoughts!! We need to stay strong!! For Sam! For Alex! For Clover!! I won’t let anyone else fade away!!!” Cass declared. “We’re the last three able to watch them!! We need to hold on!! The others would want us to!!!”

“Where’d all this come from?” Alyssa asked.

“After Clover faded. We can’t keep doing that. We are the last ones!! Which means that we need to be the ones who make it!! For the others sake!!!”

“But we can’t stop it.” Luke replied. “If we even tell them to stop thinking about the negatives, they keep doing it and then they fade. We can only stay idle…”

“I’M TIRED OF STAYING IDLE!!!”

The other two flinched.

“I’ve been idle for too long!! That was basically my whole life!! A friend would get bullied, and I’d freeze up!! My parents forgot me in the woods, and I stayed idle for two days in the rain, catching a cold!!! I only fell down here when I realized that being idle did nothing!!!”

“Cass…” Alyssa tried to get her attention.

“But I know we can help keep each other from disappearing!! We don’t have to be idle!!! We just need to put on a **_brave_ ** face, and tell each other it’ll be okay!!” 

“Cass, you’re changing color…” Alyssa said.

“Exactly, like that!! We can warn each other about the void spots, and then give each other comfort to prevent us from succumbing to the bad memories!!!”

“No, Cass… She means you’re turning orange…” Luke clarified.

“What?” Cass looked at her arms. “Oh wow!!! That’s kinda cool!!!”

“But how’s that-”

_“Cass…?”_ Chara whispered.

The three fallen children looked at the group, who exited the kitchen. They were staring directly at Cass in shock. Well not Papyrus, he was looking more concerned than anything. Cass looked to Papyrus. “Um...Papyrus...Why are they looking at me?”

“Because we can see you…” Undyne answered.

Well, it was safe to say that none of the fallen children were expecting that answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISETH!!! DIDN'T EXPECTETH THAT DID YOU???
> 
> (This was such a fun chapter to write ^.^)
> 
> *Edit: Added music, some better descriptions and changed a few things about the fight, but nothing too noticeable. (Unless you have a really good memory of the previous descriptions.)


	33. Visiting Toriel

“Remind me again why I need to do this?” Frisk asked. Sans was jotting down notes, while she sat in front of some kind of machine, looking inside as the images shown would go blurry, and then clear and a mix inbetween.

“alphys texted me asking what your prescription was. this machine will help determine that.” Sans explained.

“I thought that those devices looked different than this.” Frisk commented, looking away from the machine and towards Sans.

“this is multi-purpose." Sans explained simply. "you could do anything with this thing.” 

“Well, it’s nice to see you’re still a scientist at heart Sans.” Chara said, looking around the room.

“heh, well, old habits die hard, kid.” Sans grinned.

“Frisk is going to look so cute with her own glasses!!” Cass suddenly appeared, giving Sans a heart attack.

“geez, i thought we talked about this kid.” Sans said shakily, clutching his chest.

“Sorry…” Cass winced.

* * *

“so this is one of the people you’ve been talking to?” Sans asked Papyrus.

“INDEED!!" Papyrus gestured to the now orange glowing child. "HER NAME IS CASS!!”

“Pap, she’s one of the previous humans who fell down…” Undyne muttered.

“I KNOW.”

“But...how?”

“That’s because of me.” Chara said. “It’s a long story…”

Chara began retelling the experience in the void. Undyne and Papyrus looked shocked and concerned, but Sans was deadly silent throughout the whole thing. Chara looked at Cass. “I don’t know why she’s orange though...She was cyan when in the void.”

“I’m not so sure either…” Cass replied.

“well there’s one thing i can say from this.” Sans commented

“AND THAT IS?” Papyrus asked.

“we need to find a way to keep her hidden. if people see this, there’s gonna be panic.”

“That’s a fair point.” Undyne agreed. “She won’t pass as a ghost monster, since Napstablook is a dead give away to what those look like.”

“How do we do that?” Frisk asked.

“Maybe she could try making herself hidden again. We couldn’t see her for the entire journey, so maybe she can default back to that state.” Chara suggested.

“Oh, that sounds good!” Cass beamed. “Let me try…” She tried focusing really hard to make herself hidden, which involved making a weird face in the progress. Sans couldn’t help but chuckle at it. “I’m trying to focus!!” Cass cried out, trying to push the short skeleton, only to fail by phasing through him.

“sorry, it’s just that your face…”

“LEAVE HER ALONE SANS!” Papyrus defended Cass.

“sorry, sorry…”

“Maybe it’s like magic.” Undyne said. “Maybe if you calm yourself, you can become invisible.”

“Is that a thing we could learn?” Frisk asked.

“Unfortunately no, that’s just something Napstablook told me ghosts could do.”

“Aww…” The two living humans groaned in unison.

“Hehe! Well, I’ll keep trying, but don’t let me distract you guys from your hang out!” Cass said.

“OH MY GOD!! THAT’S RIGHT!! WE WERE HANGING OUT!!!” Papyrus shot up. "WHAT SHOULD WE DO NEXT?"

“I know!” Undyne lifted up the couch.

“UNDYNE NOT AGAIN!!!”

* * *

Cass took a deep breath, and went invisible. “Sorry again.” Her voice rang out.

“It’s fine, it was just sudden.” Chara said.

“alright kiddo, that should be the last of it." Sans said to Frisk, who leaned away from the machine. Sans wrote down a few things in his notebook and closed it. "i’ll just text these to alphys and the rest is hers.”

“Good, we were planning on visiting Toriel, and I didn’t want to miss that!” Frisk sighed in relief.

“i’ll be quick about it. then we’ll take a shortcut.”

* * *

Toriel had just finished making a Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie. She was excited that Frisk and Chara were going to be holding off on going to Asgore for a few days, and that they wanted to visit. She already had the ingredients for dinner, but she couldn’t keep her excitement down, so the pie was made early. Oops. “Well, Chara does not mind cold pie.” Toriel said to herself. “I wonder when they will get here?”

“About 3 seconds after you say that.” Chara said from the doorway, causing Toriel to jump out of her skin.

“How’d you?!”

“Shortcut!” Frisk said, sticking her head out from behind Chara.

“Sans…” Toriel muttered angrily.

“Can you blame us? Our clothes aren’t really cold proof anymore.” Chara pointed out all the rips and tears in the two’s clothing.

“My goodness…” Toriel looked at the two. “I should have expected that…”

“It’s fine.” Chara reassured. “It was a kind of rushed exit anyway…”

“Well, I still should have thought to give you two backups…” Toriel replied. She rubbed her chin in thought. “I know, there is still a tailor here in the Ruins, we could make a quick visit to get you two new clothes!”

“How long would that be?” Frisk asked.

“They’re quite fast! I have had to get many things tailored from them during my time here, and they always get done after a few hours.” Toriel explained, forgetting about the sudden entrance thanks to Sans.

“Well, we're here to visit, so a little trip around the Ruins won’t kill us!” Chara smiled.

Frisk nodded and tapped her foot. “True…”

Toriel smiled and walked ahead of the two humans. “Then shall we be off?” 

“Yep!” The two said in unison. The three left the house, and turned to the balcony, and up the stairs, where a gate blocked their path. Toriel produced a key from her robes and unlocked the gate, giving access to the old capital. The rest of the Ruins was a new sight for Frisk. The plaza looked busy, with all the Whimsum’s, Froggit’s, and other monsters that preferred the Ruins to the rest of the underground. They passed by a few Moldsmals, to which Frisk mimicked their movements for fun. Chara and Toriel laughed, though, Toriel could swear that Chara’s laugh seemed more...Endearing...Well, she’s sure it was just her. They passed by the old capital building, which was the most unkept part of the whole Ruins, since no one used it anymore, with vines taking over the whole structure. After a few more turns and a couple of run ins with some of the Ruins inhabitants, Toriel stopped.

“Here we are!” Toriel gestured to the building in front of them, which had a string and a needle painted onto a sign nearby. There was a mirror just nearby the door. Chara and Frisk stepped in front of it.

“We look like a mess…” Frisk muttered, wincing at the sight.

“Despite that, it’s still us!” Chara replied.

The mirror opened up a pair of eyes, and looked at the two humans, and then made a face. “You two really need a fix up…”

“You don’t say.” Frisk replied.

The mirror monster revealed a pair of arms from behind them and knocked on the door to the shop. “Hey Oce, we got some customers who need a wardrobe change!”

The door to the shop opened, and an ocelot monster, wearing a light blue tank top and brown pants stepped out. They saw Toriel first and smiled. “Ah, Tori, you need a new robe, or need me to fix one?”

“Not her Oce, the two humans.” The mirror gestured to Frisk and Chara. Oce took a glance at them and winced.

“Wow, you guys really do need a fix up…”

“That’s why we’re here.” Chara replied.

“Well, please, come on in!” Oce stepped into the building, and the three followed closely behind them. Oce pulled out a notepad and a pencil. “Before we begin, write down what you want.” They handed Chara and Frisk the notepad and pencil and the two began discussing what they would want. Oce turned their attention to Toriel. “So Tori, I heard you opened the door to Snowdin.”

“Yes, it was a tough decision, but a couple of friends helped me come up with it.”

“Well that was thoughtful of them. I was wondering if you’d keep yourself locked up until the world ended.” Oce joked.

Toriel laughed. “It sure felt like it.”

Oce looked back at the humans. “So are they visiting for the night?”

Toriel nodded. “They decided to take a few days off their trip to the capital, and since they learned that I opened the door, they wanted to visit before they set off again.”

“That’s quite thoughtful of them!”

“Ok, we made our decisions!” Chara said, handing back the notepad. Oce looked over their requests, and nodded.

“Shouldn’t be too hard. Now let’s get those measurements!” Oce took the three to the back and turned on a few lights pointing to a small stand. “Doesn’t matter who goes first.” With that, Chara stepped up first. Oce took out a measurement tape, and started to take Chara’s measurements.

“So, do you ever think of exploring the rest of the underground, now that the door is open?” Frisk asked.

“I have thought about it, but I still don’t think the time is right.” Toriel answered.

“That’s fine, take your time.” Frisk smiled.

“Next!” Oce said.

“Wow that was fast!” Frisk commented.

“It’s what I’m known for!” Oce replied. Frisk walked up and Chara stood next to Toriel.

“So what’s your plan? After me and Frisk talk to Dad?”

“I am not sure. I honestly never thought I’d open the door.”

Chara chuckled. “Well, there’s a first time for everything!”

“Yes. Yes there is!”

Oce finished taking Frisk’s measurements, and began making preparations for making the outfits. “Expect them to be done by tomorrow morning!” Toriel and the humans waved them off, and set off back to the house.

* * *

Dinner was nothing special. Just a simple soup. Made with snails. Honestly, after everything else the two had eaten, snails were a nice change of pace. Just kinda rubbery. Still, it was nice to have some normalcy in a meal. Just sitting down, enjoying every flavor, instead of eating it in a quick hurry to heal any wounds that were caused. 

The full excitement of the meal came from the storied Frisk and Chara told (if slightly embellished, as to not add every single monster in existence to Toriel’s shit list). Their favorite one was the story of the two meeting Papyrus, and all the puzzles he had made. Sure, some had a few setbacks, like the maze, but the rest were expertly made, with trying to get the ‘X’s’ into ‘O’s’ or the tile puzzle, which they decided to embellish to make it seem more of a challenge, even though Papyrus didn’t specifically make that one, he seemed excited about it.

Their next one was of how they managed to become Undyne’s friend. They mentioned having helped her when she started to get heat stroke in Hotland, but not the parts where she tried to kill them. What they did keep, was her feeling pitied, and therefore not starting off on the right foot. They mentioned how Papyrus got her to try, and how the three of them had a discussion over tea. They then went into excruciating detail about how she ended up burning her house down. That had definitely caused some laughs.

Mettaton...Was hard to explain. Apparently she had seen the tile puzzle episode, and the two needed to stress that it was all part of the show, and that Mettaton and Alphys would never actually harm them. That took some effort. So, they decided to leave out the fight portion of their Mettaton story, but they did mention his new form, which they hoped was also being worked on, along with whatever Alphys was doing.

“Well, it certainly sounds like you guys made quite a few new friends!” Toriel said with a gleeful smile.

“Mhmm!” Frisk nodded.

“I just hope our efforts with Dad will be just as rewarding.” Chara muttered.

Toriel sighed. “You know, when Papyrus first came to me, he asked me a question, that I still think about.”

“What was it?”

“He asked if it was possible that anyone could be good. Even if they had done so many bad things. If they just put a little effort into trying.”

“And what did you say?” Frisk asked.

“Well, a part of me said no, but I had said yes...I sometimes wonder if I believe that or not.”

“Was he asking specifically about Dad?” Chara wondered.

“He said he got into a confrontation with a friend, and that it left him wondering…” Toriel explained.

Frisk and Chara felt a chill run down their spines. “Did-Did he say who the friend was?”

“No, but it seemed like that friend of his had doubts. That you would be able to get through to Asgore…” Toriel took a spoonful of soup and then looked at the two, who seemed to be contemplating something. “Are you two alright?”

“We’re fine…” Frisk replied. “It’s just…”

“We didn’t really think Papyrus could get in a fight with anyone...We should ask him about it when we go back.”

“That might be for the best.” Toriel nodded. “Having more people to talk about it with will surely ease his troubles.”

Frisk rubbed her eyes. “If it’s alright, I think I might head to bed early.”

“Me too.” Chara added.

“It is quite alright, my children! After all, you have had such a long journey, I am sure there weren’t many opportunities to rest!” With Toriel’s approval, the two stood up from the table, and walked to the bedroom. Everything was still the same.

_“That friend...You don’t think…”_ Cass whispered.

_“It wouldn’t surprise me if it was…”_ Chara muttered.

_“We’ll definitely ask him about it…”_ Frisk said as she turned out the lights.

* * *

Frisk and Chara stepped into the living room, where Toriel was setting up a couple of boxes on the table. She took notice of the two, and smiled. “Here are your new outfits! They really are fast.”

“They weren’t joking about it being this morning.” Chara muttered as he looked over the boxes. Toriel handed them each a box, and they went to go try them on. Chara went into the bedroom, and set the box down on the bed. _“I’m glad you guys can choose who to watch over.”_ He whispered before opening the box. The first thing he saw was a replacement Delta Rune shirt. Chara felt that it'd be best to replace his damaged one, even if it would get covered by the new sweater, which was the same color as his Delta Rune shirt, with a single white stripe and white sleeves, just cause. The replacement pants were a dark grey. He threw off the worn and torn clothing and began trying on the new set. The sweater felt right. He wasn’t used to showing his arms, but thankfully nobody mentioned the scars. Still, it was nice to have something covering them again, plus, it felt warmer than just the jacket he wore, which would make Snowdin less of a hassle, but the only downside was the lack of a hood. Everything else just felt normal to him. He walked out of the room and stretched. "I like 'em!" He said afterwards, walking up to Toriel.

“I certainly hope so, since they costed about 250G” Toriel commented.

Chara went wide eyed and nearly choked on his own breath. “That much!?”

“Of course!” Toriel replied, with an eerie smile. "It was quite a big order from my usual ones after all!"

Chara remained frozen. After a few seconds he meekly raised a finger. “I can pay you back.”

“It is fine. I’m just used to only paying about 80 for a simple robe.” 

Chara sighed. “Well if you ever change your mind-”

Frisk walked out of the room further ahead. Her new outfit consisted of a royal purple sweater with two thistle colored stripes across the torso and the sleeves, dark grey pants contrasting with her brown boots, and a small scarf similar in color to Chara's sweater, with the Delta Rune stitched into it. She made a small twirl and stood next to Chara. "I'm not gonna lie, I like these better than my previous outfit!" She smiled widely.

“You look nice!” Chara complimented.

“Thanks!” Frisk slightly blushed.

“I am glad you two like them!" Toriel brought her hands together and smiled. "They are an improvement after those old ones.”

“Yeah...Those weren’t going to last much longer anyway.” Chara sighed.

“No they were not.” Frisk nodded.

“Well, before you two go-” Toriel walked into the kitchen and came back with a box. “Can you give this to Sans and Papyrus?”

“Of course!” Chara said, taking the box. “We’ll be careful, Mom.”

“I know you will!” Toriel reached down and gave the two a hug, which they returned. “I will walk with you!” The three headed down the stairs, and to the exit. Chara looked back, feeling like they were being watched, but found nothing. He quickly caught back up, before Toriel could ask questions. Standing in front of the door was Sans.

The skeleton looked the two humans over, pretty surprised by the sudden outfit change. “well you guys sure look different.” 

“We needed the change.” Frisk replied.

“you're not wrong on that.” Sans commented. "but still..."

Chara handed Sans the box and turned back to Toriel. “See you another time!”

“You as well my child!” Toriel waved and the three left the Ruins.

* * *

They appeared back into Sans and Papyrus’ place from the kitchen. Frisk shook her head and sighed. “I still want to know how you do those.”

“family secret.” Sans replied.

“So Papyrus can use shortcuts too?” Chara asked,

“yeah, but he doesn’t like to." Sans replied with a shrug. "says they make him feel lazy.”

“Well you do use them often!” Frisk joked.

“i’ll take that as a compliment.” Sans said, handing Frisk the box. “can you put that away? i’d like to talk to chara about something.”

“Why not say it to both of us?” Chara asked.

“On it!” Frisk walked into the kitchen and Sans pulled Chara through the front door, and the two ended up in Sans’ secret room.

“What’s this about?” Chara asked with a hint of accusation and worry.

Sans sighed. “sit down kid. i owe you some explanations.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The more I thought back to the design I made for Chara, the more I realized that it wasn't really good. So the two got an outfit change! I'll be sure to draw them soon!
> 
> I'm just as bad as Asgore when it comes to naming...
> 
> so...much...dialogue....so...much....DESCRIPTIONS!!!


	34. Answers

“Explanations?” Sans nodded. Chara slumped down in the chair, thinking. “What kind of explanations?”

“the past kind.” Sans replied solemnly. Chara remained silent. He rested his arms on his knees, and propped his head beneath his hands. The shadow from his hair covered his eyes, and he began tapping his foot on the floor nervously. He sighed and nodded, giving Sans the go ahead. “truth is, i already knew you were going to come back. i just never took the old man seriously when he told me.”

“Gaster knew?” Chara muttered, looking up at Sans, who nodded.

“he had this...condition. it allowed him to see the possible futures. he never said how, or why he had it, but he saw something interesting." Sans sighed. "He saw you and the prince die, only for you, to come back and free the underground. he never said how, though."

“That’s why he didn’t give it his all.” Chara muttered.

“yeah. i confronted him about it, but he kept spilling the cryptic nonsense. i thought about telling the king and queen, but…” Sans buried his face into his hands. “how do you tell a worried family that their kid is dying because their doctor is purposefully letting it happen?”

Chara sighed, and rested a hand on the desk. “How indeed.”

“so i chickened out of that plan. you and asriel died, just like he said. then things got complicated.”

“Complicated?” Chara raised a brow.

“he started to become distant. locking himself in his lab and the core, making notes and theories. at least, that’s what i thought they were. it got more and more frequent. even when papyrus got sick, he wouldn’t be home. i’d try and try to confront him, but he just wouldn’t stop being so damn cryptic.” Chara remained silent. “he’d say it was for everyone’s sake, and that him doing what he was doing would help. he said it was all for the name of science. he would distance himself from his family, his sons, even when one was sick, he’d keep distancing himself. all for science." Sans shook his head. "he told me that some sacrifices must be made for the sake of it. i told him that if losing the chance to be with family was the cost for doing what he’d do-”

“Then it wasn’t worth it.” Chara finished. “That’s why you’re a sentry.”

“getting there.” Sans sighed and rested his hands on his kneecaps. "a month or so afterwards, he just, vanished."

“You mean-”

“gone. not a trace to be found. everyone else seems to have forgotten who he was or what he looked like, but thanks to the core, people had the idea that someone of his position used to exist." Sans took a deep breath. "papyrus hardly saw him, so he only remembered the idea that, 'hey, we had a dad. don't know shit about him though.'" Sans let out a small chuckle and then sighed. "i tried to find out. i did. all that did was drive the others crazy..." Chara felt a chill run down his spine. “after a few weeks, i began to wonder, ‘was this my fault? was the reason he disappeared, because of that one day? would things have gone differently, had i just told the king and queen?’” Sans gave a hollow chuckle. “i blamed myself, for years. after awhile, the surface...it just didn’t hold the appeal anymore. why wish for something like that, after the mistakes i made?”

“Sans…”

“soon, i had just, given up all hope...”

Chara sat up. “How haven’t you fallen down yet?”

“beats me.” Sans shrugged. “i’m just glad i didn’t. Wouldn’t want to worry papyrus after all.” Sans sighed. “so, i just didn’t care anymore. no worries, no problems. then one day, i noticed papyrus talking to nothing. he’d just talk to the air, like someone was there.”

“Like with the fallen children.” Chara surmised.

Sans nodded. “he wouldn’t give a name, he wouldn’t give a description. nothing. people took notice, and started calling him names. saying he was...different, from the rest.”

Chara let out a soft, silent chuckle. “You must’ve been pissed.”

“very. but a few fights wouldn’t solve anything, so i did the next best thing.”

“You praised him.”

“like he was mettaton himself.” Sans chuckled. “people started to leave him alone after that...well that and after some minor threats here and there.” Chara chuckled. “then, things were how they were, before you exited the ruins. no fuss. no hassles. just me telling bad jokes to papyrus, and him telling me to stop being lazy and signing me up to be a sentry.” Sans sighed. “it feels nice to have someone call you out on being lazy, even though it’s the furthest thing from the truth.”

Chara was about to nod, when something piqued his curiosity. “What about the fallen humans? Wouldn’t some pass through Snowdin?”

“some did, but that was well before me and papyrus moved here. remember, we used to live at the capital.”

“Right…” Chara could tell Sans was lying, but didn’t want to press further. “Well, I’m glad you finally told me, but what brought this on?”

“before your performance with mettaton at the core, i had a chat with frisk. she woke up from a nightmare and was wandering around the hotel. we talked for a bit, and she made me realize...that you deserved to know the truth. rather than have me blow you off.”

_Thanks Frisk…_ Chara thought. He sighed and stood up. “Well, it was thoughtful of you. But don’t scare me like that again!”

“what?”

“When you started getting serious all of a sudden." Chara explained with a chuckle. "I thought you were about to say you only had a few more months to live or some shit like that!”

“please, papyrus would’ve been the first to know and then he’d be dragging me everywhere.” Sans winked.

“You got me there!” Chara chuckled. “Still, thanks for that.”

“No problem. now let’s make sure frisk actually did put that box away instead of eating the contents.”

“Alright!” Sans and Chara left the room, and appeared in the living room, where Frisk and Cass were sitting on the couch, the former petting Toby while the dog peacefully slept.

“Hi guys!!” Cass waved at them.

“how’s it hanging?”

“Turns out when Mettaton is being repaired, there’s nothing to do. Papyrus and Undyne were busy with something so we’ve just been sitting on the couch while you guys talked.” Frisk replied. Toby got off her lap and approached Sans. He had a magical girl wand in his mouth. Sans picked up Toby, and grabbed the wand.

“he get into the dump again?” Sans asked. Frisk and Cass nodded. “right, someone better clean him up before papyrus get’s home.” Sans walked into the kitchen and disappeared. Chara folded his arms and looked at the two.

“So what really happened?”

“It’s weird.” Frisk replied.

“Really weird.” Cass added.

“Try me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If y'all don't know where Frisk and Cass' story is gonna be going, I swear to Asgore...


	35. One Mad Doll

Frisk walked into the kitchen and set the box inside the fridge. She heard the front door open and close, and a content smile spread across her face. Cass appeared next to her, but thankfully the orange glow clued her in, so she wouldn’t jump at the sound of her voice. No one really knows how Cass is able to show herself to everyone now, but however it happened, there’s hope for the others to do so as well. “Do you think he’s going to tell Chara the whole truth?” Cass asked.

Frisk’s smile disappeared. “I think it’s better if he focuses on a few explanations at a time.” Frisk folded her arms. “If he spills the whole thing, it may cause problems…”

“That’s a good point…” Cass looked to the door. “I just hope Sans knows which one he wants to tell.”

“Me too.” Frisk turned to leave the kitchen, only to see Toby approach the sink cabinet. He started pawing at the door, which practically melted Frisk's heart. “Aw, does someone want some of Papyrus’ bone stash?” Frisk asked as she started to pet Toby.

“Would Papyrus be upset if he knew?” Cass asked.

“It’d be safe to get a count on how many are in there.” Frisk said thoughtfully, still resting a hand on Toby. “That way, we can easily refill the missing ones so he doesn’t find out!”

“Oh, I’m perfect for this!!” Cass walked up to the sink door and phased right through it.

Frisk went wide eyed, and lightly knocked on the sink cabinet. “How many times have you done that?” Frisk asked, glancing at Toby, who tilted his head.

Cass stuck her head out from the door. “This is the second time. The first time was somewhere around Hotland while you guys were trapped in the webs. I phased right through the floor!!” Cass let out a huge smile, before it started to falter. “Heights are scary…” She emerged fully from the cabinet. “So...There aren’t any bones.”

“There isn’t?" Frisk looked at Cass in disbelief. "But Papyrus said that’s where he keeps them.”

“I know, but…” Cass rubbed her arm. “Why don’t you just open it and look?”

Frisk quirked an eyebrow, but opened the cabinet anyway. Toby ran inside and Frisk followed him, to find...A sight that would make Papyrus flip out. There was a deflated wacky-waving-inflatable arm-flailing tube guy, blueprints that had been scribbled on, a box with a ‘G’ symbol on it and a destroyed shrine with a ruined dog picture in the middle of the mess, in front of a door with a red side and cyan side. “What the heck is this?”

“I’m not sure, but it feels like a completely different area.” Cass replied.

“It feels like we’re in Waterfall…” Frisk walked up to the door. Something about it seemed familiar, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. Toby was pawing at the door, growling. “Is there something behind here you don’t like?” Toby kept growling at the door. Frisk looked back at it, and noticed two little indents near the middle. She inserted her hands into the indents and pulled. “Come….on…! Open….up….already!” The door opened finally, revealing that they needed to be slid open. “Oh…” Frisk’s face went red with embarrassment.

“At least it worked!” Cass said. “Come on!” The two (plus Toby) entered the room. Inside was a life-sized cat-girl anime doll, which was blindingly pink against the blue walls of the cavern. “Um…”

“Why do they have this?” Frisk asked no-one in particular. “This is more of an Alphys thing.” Frisk walked up to the doll, and scratched behind it’s cat ears. The doll jerked slightly. “What the…?”

“Try again…” Cass suggested. Frisk took the suggestion, and scratched behind the ears again. The doll slightly jerked again, with a faint laugh being emitted. “That’s weird.”

“Very.” Frisk went to try again, when the doll grabbed her arm.

“ENOUGH!!! ENOUGH!!! ENOUGH!!! FOOL!! DON’T YOU KNOW NOT TO TOUCH PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW?? ESPECIALLY WHEN. THEY ARE!! Ticklish.” The doll giggled a bit.

“Uhhhh….” Frisk and Cass had the same reaction. The doll looked confused.

“Huh? You two don’t recognize me?”

Frisk shook her head, while Cass rubbed her chin. After a few moments, she snapped her fingers and pointed to the doll. “You’re the dummy from the dump!!” The doll looked at Cass with a raised brow.

“And you weren’t orange then…” The doll sighed. “I found this body, and felt that it better felt like me." The doll said solemnly. "But no matter how much I try, IT’S NOT WORKING!!!”

“Is there a special rule to fusing with a body?” Frisk asked.

“The ghost’s emotions need to be pure." The doll explained, pretty half-assed. "And mine aren’t. I need TENSION!! CONFLICT!! Something to bring out my ANGER!!!”

Frisk and Cass looked at each other. “We’ll try to help, but I’m not sure if-”

“PERFECT!!!" The doll shouted, scaring both Frisk and Cass. "COMBAT!!! BLOODLUST!!! DESTRUCTION!!!!” The doll produced a magical girl wand, and waved it in front of Frisk. Soon, the world went monochrome and Frisk's SOUL was divided into Cyan and Red. “WITH MY NEW SPECIAL ABILITY, THIS FIGHT WILL BE INTERESTING!!! NOW GIVE ME ALL THE REASONS TO BE ANGRY!!! So I can fuse with this special new body, mew~!”

Frisk was even more confused, but couldn’t dwell on those thoughts as three bullets descended towards her. In a panic, she tried to dodge, prompting her SOUL to split into two halves and going in opposite directions. She looked at each half with puzzlement, as each half held their own glowing Frisk, which really made her vision a headache. Both halves then reconnected afterwards, putting Frisk back into her regular state of being. _“What the heck was that?”_

“My new power! You can pull yourself apart to dodge my special new bullets!!" The doll explained happily...ish. The doll then tapped her chin and hummed. "I think it came with this body.”

Cass looked the body over and raised a brow. “Where’d you even get it?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know!!" The doll replied before cackling. "Sure, I'll tell ya!" Frisk and Cass exchanged a confused glance. "It was in a...Sciencey place…” The doll sent out more bullets. Frisk pulled herself apart to dodge the first, but needed to be whole to dodge the rest. Some bullets were color coded and she needed to be split apart to not get hurt by them. 

“Huh. I think I’m getting the hang of this…” Frisk muttered.

“Go Frisk!! You can do it!!!” Cass cheered, along with Toby, who was barking.

“No idea what was going on in there, but as soon as I saw this body, I knew it was ME!! ME ME!!!!” The doll sent out more attacks, and Frisk was starting to get a feel for this new ability. “So I took it! You can’t blame me!! _What does a scientist need a life-sized girl statue for anyway?”_

“I can think of a few reasons, _but I don’t feel like having that conversation with Cass.”_ Frisk replied, holding a hand near her mouth, leaning closer to the doll.

“Fair enough. Besides, with this new body, I have a BRAND new life ahead of me!!” The doll brought out a magical girl wand, and began to fire bullets from it, howling about her new life. Frisk tried to dodge them, but the amount and speed of which the bullets were produced made it hard to keep up with, and she bumped into a few. 

Frisk examined herself, and was thankful the clothes didn't get ripped, but she could tell there was a bit of bruising. “What are you going to even do with this new body anyway?”

The doll hummed. “Probably continue being Undyne’s training dummy.”

Frisk stared at the doll with a bemused expression. “Really?”

“Yep!” The doll sighed lovingly. “Ah Undyne, sweet, violent Undyne.”

Frisk raised an eyebrow, but couldn’t ponder on the thought, as bullets came from all around. She didn’t know why, but it felt like she was moving on a d-pad. “I don’t really think she’s into possessed objects that much.”

The doll hummed. “Yeah, I think I can respect that…” As she said that, she pulled out the wand again, and sent out more bullets. Frisk was kinda getting some mixed messages from the doll as she shouted about respecting Undyne's decision. 

“Um...Listen, I’m not so sure if anger is the best way to fuse with your new body!” Frisk reasoned. “If it was, I’m pretty sure you’d have been stuck as that training dummy.”

The doll stopped, and took Frisk’s words into consideration. “You mean like...Trying other emotions?”

“Exactly!! Maybe something like...Love!!” Frisk said the first thing that came to mind.

“Love?” The doll hummed. “How would I do that?”

“Like..." Frisk hummed in thought, but before she could say another word, Cass walked up to the doll and hugged her, as best as a ghost child could, anyway.

The doll dropped the wand and clutched their chest. “Huh? Such kindness...I feel….something.” The doll shrugged. Toby picked up the wand in his mouth. “It might be a long while before I can fuse with this body…” The doll sighed.

“You can do it!!” Cass reassured, letting go of the doll. “Just think of this as a start!!”

The doll hummed. “Yeah. Yeah I can do that!!” The doll grinned. “Huh...Even though I came here to be alone, I somehow made a couple of friends…Strange world…”

“You’re telling me.” Frisk muttered. The doll waved them goodbye, and then flew through the wall….Somehow. Frisk and Cass left the strange pocket dimension that some manifested in the sink and sat on the couch. Toby joined them a couple seconds later, with the wand still in his mouth. He laid in Frisk’s lap, which prompted Frisk to start petting him. “Good dog.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Probably the shortest Chapter I've written for this, solely because it needed to fit with the time frame of the previous chapter...
> 
> (I have no idea how to describe the switch elements...)


	36. A Warrior Fish and a Nerdy Lizard

Frisk and Chara walked outside of the house. Alphys had finished what she had been working on, and the two could finally continue their trek to Asgore. Papyrus had offered to take them to where the Riverperson would show up. Papyrus turned to the humans with a friendly expression as usual. “BE SURE TO BRING BACK SOUVENIRS FROM NEW HOME WHEN YOU GET BACK!!”

“Of course!” Chara replied.

“Wouldn’t dream of not doing that.” Frisk added. The three waited by the edge, keeping an eye out for the Riverperson. Chara was preparing himself mentally for the meeting with Asgore. Or more specifically, what he’d say. From the sound of things, he needed to be extra sure of what to say. One wrong move to bring their entire plan to a devastating failure.

“Hey punks!! Wait!!” Undyne ran up to the trio, holding a letter in her hand, and sprinting at full speed, making it so she made it to them in what seemed like 5 steps.

“Undyne?" Chara and Frisk were equally surprised. Chara walked up to the guard captain, who, now that she was out of her armor, seemed to have endless breath. "What’s up?”

“Well, you see...I was wondering if...You could take this letter to Alphys.” Undyne handed Chara the letter.

Chara looked the letter over, raising a brow and just looking very confused. “Is there anything specific I should know, or-”

“Yeah, read it and you’re dead meat.” Undyne snarled.

Chara froze. “Yeah...That’s….Good to know.” Chara pocketed the letter.

“Why do you want us to give it to Alphys instead of yourself?” Frisk asked.

“It’s a little thing called ‘Hotland sucks.'" Undyne chuckled and grinned. Frisk and Chara chuckled a bit too, before Papyrus appeared in between the two humans. 

“SHE’S TOO NERVOUS TO DO IT HERSELF.” Papyrus stated.

Undyne slapped the skeleton on the top of his skull. “Papyrus!!”

Papyrus rubbed the spot that was hit, and then stared at Undyne in a slight annoyance. “IT’S THE TRUTH!!”

Frisk and Chara laughed at the exchange, and then the Riverperson made their appearance. “We’ll be sure to give her the letter.” Frisk reassured.

“You better…” Undyne growled.

The two waved Undyne and Papyrus off and the Riverperson set course for Hotland. “Tra la la…” The Riverperson’s voice was more serious. “Beware the man who speaks in hands.” Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance, but decided against trying to pry. They sat in silence the entire ride, watching the calm water go by as they continued to their destination. The Riverperson stopped at the entrance to Hotland, and the two got off. Chara didn’t bother taking off his jacket, since the lab has air conditioning, and since they only needed to go on a few elevators before getting back to the CORE. They stopped in front of the SAVE point on instinct, and headed inside the lab.

* * *

“Alphys! We’re here!” Chara called out as the two walked into the lab. They didn’t get an answer, which probably meant Alphys had to step out for a bit. They walked to the monitor, and stared at their reflections. “We don’t look half bad…” Chara muttered, as the two stared up at the giant monitor.

“Not bad at all darlings!!” Mettaton’s voice rang out from their left. His new form was fully completed and everything was back in place, although his right arm has had some modifications it seems, since it had some wires attached to it and a distinct pink glow.

“Mettaton! You’re all done!” Frisk said at the sight of the robot.

“Yes I am!!" Mettaon, as expected, struck a pose, showing off his new, fully operational body. "While Alphys was taking a break on whatever she was making for you two, she would look over ways to give me a steady power supply!”

“And how did she?” Chara asked.

“Well…” Mettaton seemed hesitant. He kneeled down and lowered his voice a bit. “Did she ever say anything about the anti-human combat features?”

“Wasn’t that a fib?” Frisk asked.

“Yes, and no.” Mettaton replied, making a fifty-fifty gesture.

Both humans raised a brow. “Huh?”

“You see, before becoming a star, I actually was built as a human eradication robot." Mettaton paused while the humans looked shocked. "But I was given a more photogenic body after rising to stardom. The thing is, those features weren’t removed." Mettaton stood up and then rubbed the back of his robotic neck. "Alphys suspected that those might have been why the power consumption for this form was so high.”

“So she removed those features?” Frisk guessed.

“All but two, since they were the most useful.” Mettaton held up his right arm, and it changed into a laser cannon. “This has many functions. It can fire lasers, unleash a chainsaw attack, or shoot out bombs!!”

“That is pretty sweet…” Chara muttered.

“And look at this-” Mettaton turned the dial on his torso, and a pair of wings extended from his back, and he began to hover off the ground. “I CAN FLY!!!”

Frisk and Chara clapped. “That’s going to give your shows an extra kick!” Frisk said, nearly inaudible.

“Those aren’t even the best parts!!” Mettaton flew up to the higher levels, and then came back down with Napstablook in tow.

“Napstablook!” Frisk and Chara cheered at the sight of the ghost.

“Oh….Hi guys….”

“After Alphys fixed me up, I decided to have a few discussions with my darling cousin, and we’re currently on the planning stages for a body of their own!” Mettaton declared, making Napstblook hide themselves away a bit.

Frisk went starry eyed. “Wow really!!”

“Of course!! It’ll really help them make those music mixes of theirs!” Mettaton declared.

“It’s nothing special…”

Mettaton wrapped an arm around Napstablook. “Come on, Blooky, have a little confidence!” 

“Yeah, you’ll do fantastic!!” Cass suddenly appeared before the group. Chara and Frisk looked pretty annoyed, while Mettaton and Napstablook just looked a little confused.

Chara pinched his nose and sighed. “Cass…”

“Oh, right!" Cass winced and scratched her arm nervously. "Sorry about that!!!”

“Hold up, weren’t you cyan before?” Mettaton asked, kneeling down a bit.

“Of course you could see them...” Chara muttered.

“I was, but after making this big speech, I turned orange all of a sudden...Not really sure what happened though.” Cass explained.

Mettaton hummed. “Well, darling, I must say, orange is a way better look on you!”

Cass smiled and giggled. “Thank you!!”

Frisk smiled at the conversation. “This is nice, but did Alphys say where she was?”

“She’s down in the lower lab. She’ll be up any minute, so your friend here has the time." Mettaton stood up and pointed to the ghost child. "I doubt you want to scare her with her pr-”

“Nono!! This is a good thing!” Chara said.

Everyone, minus Napstablook, looked at Chara like he was crazy. “It is?”

“We can ask her some questions before we head to the capital! If she can see at least one of them, it might be easier to get answers!!” Chara explained, tapping his brain like a smartass.

The rest of the group hummed in agreement, before Mettaton broke out into a smile. “So darlings…” He walked up to the two humans and wrapped an arm around each one.

“Yeah?” Frisk and chara asked in sync, kinda uncomfortable.

“When this is all said and done, do you two have any special plans?” Mettaton asked with a slightly devious smile.

“What are you getting at?” Chara got defensive.

“Oh, don’t act like that kiss was for that performance only!” The two blushed. “I’m asking if you two have any plans with each other when you finish your mighty quest!”

“Um…” Chara scratched the back of his head.

“I never really thought about it…” Frisk clutched her arm.

Mettaton hummed. “Well then, I’m sure I could help you with that when the time comes!”

A door opened across the lab, and the two humans sighed in relief as Alphys stepped out. Cass made herself invisible on instinct, but the others decided to bring that up at a better time. Alphys looked up at the two. “Ah, you made it!!”

Frisk smiled at the sight of the lizard monster. “Of course!”

“It did seem important after all.” Chara added, sticking his hands in his pockets.

“Y-yes well, there’s a few reasons for that.” Alphys took out a small, lengthy box. “This is for Frisk!” She handed the box to Frisk, who promptly opened it, and froze.

“Frisk?” Chara tried getting her attention.

“I remembered you guys asking f-for her to get some gl-glasses." Alphys tapped her claws together while Frisk admired the glasses. "It didn’t f-feel right if I kept putting that off s-so I-” 

_“Th...you..."_

“Huh?” Alphys didn’t quite catch what Frisk said, but before she could ask, Frisk pulled her into a hug. Alphys was pretty uncomfortable, not used to this amount of physical contact.

“Thank you…” Frisk said tearfully, yet more clearly.

“O-oh, it-it’s not a problem.” Alphys replied. Frisk broke off the hug and eagerly put on the glasses. They were small, and in a square frame. She gasped when she looked around the room. “I know they can be d-daunting at first, but you get used to the-”

“This is perfect!!” Frisk was beaming. “I can actually see things now!!" Frisk began walking around the lab, pointing at small little details. "The little marks on the walls, the little details on Mettaton.” After earning a glittering smile and wink from Mettaton, Frisk turned to Chara and pulled him into an embrace. “I can see Chara’s pretty face even better now!”

Chara blushed and chuckled. “Well, it’s safe to say that she likes them.”

“Th-that’s good. I was a little worried there for a second!” Alphys wiped off some sweat from her forehead.

“You know how many sights I missed because of my eyesight? Too many!!” Frisk declared, tearfully and with a mixture of anger and sadness. "Now I can properly see them!!"

Chara chuckled even more. “Well, then I guess I know what we’re doing when this is all over!”

“That’s actually a good way to showcase the main thing I was working on!” Alphys stepped away and came back with two interdimensional boxes, smaller than the others, with a clip on the back of it. "Wh-when you mentioned you guys needed to restock, I-I got this idea, and made these." She handed the humans the boxes. "You attach them to your belt, and it functions as another way to store items!" Alphys explained as the two attached the boxes to their belts, and opened the boxes to look inside. "Wh-what they do, is that, while you buy items, you can store some in those boxes, leaving room for your pockets for more items!" Alphys took a minute to find her breath. "A-and, instead of having to grab your phone from your pocket, you can just, open it up and grab what item you need!"

Chara looked the box over and hummed in thought. "So, I'm guessing their a separate pocket dimension for the items." Alphys nodded and Chara tapped his foot. "And everything inside should be safe from any damages?"

“Y-yep!!" Alphys declared, placing her hands on her hips, in a slightly awkward pose. "I made a few tests before I marked them complete!”

“That’s good! I’d hate to lose everything because I dropped the box." Chara mentioned, making Frisk giggle. "And, like the phones, I'll assume they can fit any size object."

Alphys nodded. “W-well, I wanted to m-make sure you guys were well pre-prepared…” Alphys sighed. “I-I don’t know how Asgore’s going to react…”

“Me neither, but I have to at least try.” Chara reassured, before his eyes went wide. “Oh yeah, Undyne said to give this to you!” Chara pulled out the letter.

“M-me?” Alphys pointed to herself. Chara nodded and extended his hand to give it to Alphys, before Mettaton swiped it from him. “Wha-Mettaton!” Mettaton opened the letter and looked it over. A huge smile broke out across his face and he broke out into a happy laughter. “Um...Mettaton...It’s not really nice t-”

“CONGRATULATIONS ALPHYS!!!” Mettaton cried out, wrapping an arm around Alphys. “You’ve got a date!!”

Alphys froze. Frisk and Chara gained smiles of their own, and Napstablook just watched. “N-no, that can’t b-be r-r-right! Th-this has to be a prank!!” Alphys took the letter and read it herself. “Th-this can’t be from Undyne! Sans must be pulling a prank on me again!”

“Alphys darling, he writes everything in Comic Sans.” Mettaton deadpanned.

“B-but-”

“Alphys, why exactly can’t you accept this?” Chara asked.

“W-well…” Alphys sighed. “Undyne is the captain of the royal guard, and is everything I’m not. Confident, strong, funny...I’m just a screw-up. I’m the Royal scientist, but all I’ve ever done is hurt people. I’ve told her so many lies, that she thinks I’m...She thinks I’m cooler than I actually am.”

Everyone looked at Alphys solemnly, before Mettaton huffed. “Alphys darling, you know what this means?”

“What?”

“We’re going to help you gain confidence!!!” Mettaton declared. Alphys was speechless. “With my acting, Blooky’s music and the two humans for emotional support, we can help get the confidence you need to go on that date with Undyne!!”

“Y-you really think you c-can do that?”

Mettaton gripped Alphys' shoulders and grinned. “I KNOW WE CAN DO IT!!” Mettaton then let go of Alphys' shoulders and flew around the room, setting up a table filled with many items for Alphys to practice with, and a soundboard for Napstablook. Mettaton descended, and looked at Alphys like a theatre teacher would to their best student. “Alright Alphys darling, let’s practice." Mettaton folded his arms behind his back. "Seduce me.”

“W-what?!" Alphys stammered, with the three others looking on confused. "I will no-”

“SEDUCE ME!!!” Mettaton shouted, causing Alphys to flinch.

“Ok ok.” Alphys looked at the table and picked out a package of instant noodles. “H-hey there g-g-good loo-oking." Alphys finally stammered out. "I got some noodles here and-” Mettaton kicked the instant noodles out Alphys’ hand, and it landed perfectly back onto the table.

Mettaton huffed. “I’m not one of your Mew-Mew anime people, I am a fish!" Mettaton placed a hand on his chest. "I like my women tough, and mysterious!! You want to be MY lover?!" He stared Alphys down intensly. "SEDUCE ME!!!”

“We’re going to be here a while.” Chara muttered.

“Yep…” Frisk agreed.

“Oh dear…”

* * *

The training sessions were...Interesting to say the least. Napstablook would provide the situational music, while Chara and Frisk did their best to teach Alphys how to tell Undyne how she felt. Mettaton...Was Mettaton. The group was in their final stages of the training, where Frisk had suggested a roleplay scenario. Alphys is Alphys, Mettaton is Undyne, the humans are the humans and Napstablook is still providing the music, either out of enjoyment, or because they feel like they have to. “Now then, we’ll just act how you two always do, and then you’ll spill the beans!” Mettaton instructed. “Sound easy?”

Alphys took in a deep breath and nodded. “Y-yeah.”

“Perfect! You go first.” Mettaton waited for Alphys, who cleared her throat.

“H-hi Undyne..." Alphys said, nervously tapping her pointer claws together. "H-how are you doing today?”

“I’m fine, Alphys.” Mettaton replied in his best Undyne impression. "Thanks for asking!"

“Ha! Ha! Glad to hear it!!!” Alphys fidgeted, and took in a few deep breaths. “Uhhh, so I’d like to, um, talk to you about something.”

“What is it, Alphys?”

“Umm, you see...I...I…” Alphys was sweating bullets.

_“You got this Alphys!”_ Frisk whispered encouragement.

Alphys took a deep breath. “I…I h-haven’t been exactly truthful w-w-with you…” Alphys took a second to find her words. “Y...You see, I...I…” Alphys sighed. “Oh forget it!" Alphys sudden;y cried out. "Undyne!!! I...I want to tell you how I feel!! Y-you’re so brave, a-and s-strong a-and nice...Y-you always listen t-to me when I talk about n-n-nerdy stuff...Y-you always d-d-do your best to m-make me f-f-feel special...L-like telling me that y-you’ll b-beat up anyone that g-get’s in my way…”

_“So far so good…”_ Chara whispered.

“UNDYNE!!!” Alphys shouted at the top of her lungs, making Mettaton flinch,

_“Ow…”_ Frisk held her ears. Mettaton looked on in shock, unable to think of what to do.

_“I CAN’T TAKE THIS ANY LONGER!!! I’M MADLY IN LOVE WITH YOU!!!”_

“You are…?" Everyone turned to see Undyne standing in the doorway to the lab.

“Undyne? When did you-Why are you…?” Frisk asked.

“I realized that (a. I didn’t sign the letter, and that may cause confusion and (b. Mettaton could see it, which he, clearly did..." Undyne explained, annoyed by the second point. "But uh, more importantly, is that true, Alphys?”

“Uh...Well...Yes...B-but even m-more importantly..." Alphys slowly made her way to Undyne. "Undyne I...I’ve been lying to you.”

“WHAT? ABOUT WHAT??

“About...Well...Everything!" Alphys cried out, making everyone flinch more. "I told you that seaweed was like...Scientifically important...Really I...I just use it to make Ice Cream.”

_“That sounds awesome!”_ Frisk whispered.

_“I can hear the vegan celebrate.”_ Chara whispered.

“And those human history books I keep reading...Those are just dorky comic books!” Alphys approached Undyne more and more. ”And the history movies, those, those are just, uh, anime! They aren’t real!” Alphys was pretty much glued to Undyne at this point. “And that time I told you i was busy with work on the phone I...I...I was just eating frozen yogurt in my pajamas-”

“Alphys…” Undyne muttered, looking down at Alphys solemnly.

Alphys' breath hitched, as the scientist shed a few tears. “I just...I just wanted to impress you-”

“Alphys…” Undyne place her hand on Alphys' head.

“I just wanted you to think I was smart and cool and not just some...Nerdy loser.”

“Alphys…” Undyne began to kneel down and rub Alphys’ head gently.

“Undyne...I...I really think you’re neat, ok…”

“Alphys…” Undyne pulled Alphys into a hug, only to accidently throw her in the air when pulling off a suplex, throwing Alphys into a nearby trash can.

“Ten points!!” Mettaton yelled, resulting in Undyne glaring at him. “Sorry…”

“Alphys! I...Think you’re neat too, I guess." Undyne scratched the back of her head, before turning to the trash can with her eye holding a burning fire. "But you’ve gotta realize, most of what you said doesn’t really matter to me.”

Alphys poked her head from the trash. “R-really?”

Undyne nodded. “I don’t care if you’re watching kid cartoons or reading history books. To me, all that stuff is just NERDY CRAP!! What I like about you is that you’re PASSIONATE!! You’re ANALYTICAL! It doesn’t matter what it is, YOU CARE ABOUT IT!!! 100-PERCENT, AT MAXIMUM POWER!!!...So you don’t have to lie to me. I don’t want you to have to lie to anyone, anymore.” Undyne sighed. “Alphys, I want to help you become happy with who you are! And I know just the training you need to do that!”

Alphys stepped out from the trash. “Undyne...You...Y-you’re gonna train me?”

“Me? Nah…I’m gonna get Papyrus to do it.” Undyne pointed to the lab entrance, to which Papyrus then entered, wearing a jogging outfit, as stated by the ‘Jogboy’ writing on his shirt.

“GET THOSE BONES SHAKING!!!” Papyrus announced. “IT’S TIME TO JOG 100 LAPS, HOOTING ABOUT HOW GREAT WE ARE!!!”

“Ready?" Undyne asked, pulling out a stop watch. "I’m about to start the timer?”

“U-Undyne...I’ll try my best.” Papyrus and Alphys jogged out of the lab. Undyne and the others smiled as the two disappeared into the underground. When they were out of earshot, Undnye's cool demeanor fell.

"OH MY GOD!!!"

“Undyne?” Frisk, Chara and Mettaton asked. Napstablook was still providing the music, with a super fast, very impossible score.

“She was kidding, right?!" Undyne asked, facing the trio. "Those cartoons, those comics...Those are still REAL right?!" Undyne gripped Chara's shoulders in grip so tight, she might as well have broke them. "ANIME’S REAL, RIGHT?!?!?!?!”

Frisk slowly shook her head no, while Mettaton made a thumbs down. “You and Mettaton are the closest we’re going to get…” Chara said calmly, despite the pain growing from his shoulders. Undyne let them go, falling to her knee's, and looking betrayed.

“No….NO!!!" Undyne cried out, gripping her chest. "I CAN FEEL MY HEART BREAKING INTO PIECES!!!”

“U-Undyne?” Frisk was concerned. She tried to lay a hand on Undyne's shoulder, only for the guard captain to suddenly stand up.

“no...I can survive this...I have to be strong...For Alphys...Thanks guys, for telling me the truth." She smiled at the three widely. "I’ll try my best to live in this world...I’ll...I’ll see you guys later.” Undyne left the lab. Mettaton let out a sigh.

“Frankly, I didn’t think Alphys’ voice could get that loud.”

“I’m surprised Napstablook kept playing music…” Chara replied.

“I...Got a bit too into it….”

“Oh no it’s fine Blooky! It really added to the whole scenario!” Mettaton reassured his cousin, and then faced the humans. “I don’t think she’ll be able to answer your questions.”

“That’s fine.” Frisk said. “She kinda needs this anyway.”

“We’ll just head to the CORE. We can ask those questions later.” Chara added.

“Well, let me help you! We can stop by the resort, and you can get any more food you need! I’ll give you two a special discount!” Mettaton smiled.

“That sounds nice!” Frisk replied with a smile.

“Do we get to fly?” Chara asked.

Mettaton hummed in thought for a second, before he shrugged. “I don’t see why not!”

* * *

Frisk and Chara stood in front of the elevator to the capital. Chara held all the fallen children’s possessions, while Frisk held all the food. They had a slice of Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie, a couple of Glamburgers, a few Starfait's, a couple of Cinna-buns, some Bicicles, and two Legendary Heroes, with extra Glamburgers and some Mettaton shaped steaks. Chara took a deep breath, and opened the elevator. “This is it…” He said.

Frisk took him by the hand. “We can do this. I know we can!”

Chara smiled. “Yeah...It’s just…” He sighed. “What am I going to say?”

Frisk shrugged. “Maybe the simplest greeting will be enough.”

“I hope so…” Chara sighed, tightening his grip on Frisk's hand.

Frisk looked at Chara somberly. “Me too.” The two stepped into the elevator, and pressed the button to take them to their destination. This was it. The final stretch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Napstablook is the one playing the games soundtrack, change my mind.
> 
> Also, yay, Frisk can see!


	37. Chapter 5: NEW HOME-1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This only took 8 pages on google docs but it felt like it took longer than that. I might come back and edit this at a later date, depending on if I feel like it...

Chara nervously tapped his foot while the elevator ascended to the capital. When was the last time he saw the place? Did Asgore cover the entire place with plants? He always seemed like the type of person who’d put plants everywhere. The entire place is probably a flower field by now. That’d be nice actually. It was too grey for Chara. Not like the Ruins, which had color. There were so many things that could come out of left field for him, since the years went by. “Chara…?” Frisk snapped her fingers in front of his face.

“Hmm?” He looked at Frisk with a raised eyebrow.

“We’re here.” Frisk gestured to the elevator doors, which were wide open.

Chara blinked a few times, before turning to Frisk with a bemused expression. “When did that happen?”

“About a minute ago. I’ve been trying to get you to notice, but you were stuck in your thoughts.” Frisk explained.

“Oh…” Chara stepped out of the elevator, and looked at the walls. “Still grey…”

Frisk stepped out of the elevator, and looked at the path. “There’s a SAVE point up ahead.”

“Good. We’re going to need those more than ever now." Chara sighed and stared up into the ceiling of the underground. "I don’t know how much has changed here.”

“I know.” Frisk sighed. “What was it like? When you first woke up down here?”

Chara chuckled softly. “A shock for starters.”

* * *

Chara lazily opened his eyes to the white ceiling, and the feel of a stiff bed. He knows this layout. It’s a hospital. He’s been in one once, but he managed to recognize all the tells. He felt it was appropriate to. The only time he’s been in one, was when his dad had broke his arm during one of the beatings. He only did it because they didn’t have the supplies at the house, and all the stores were closed, so he reluctantly took Chara to the hospital, but he hated the amount of money he’d have to spend. Chara raised one of his arms, which were still covered in the bandages. His dad showed no mercy, and what was underneath the bandages were proof. Chara didn’t like reapplying them, but he hated the sight and didn’t want to look at them, even if it meant people would get the wrong idea.

“You’re awake, how ‘bout that?” A voice said. Chara tried to sit up, but the owner of the voice slowed him down. “Easy there, you’ve been out for a couple of days. Too much movement could disrupt the bandages.”

“Sorry-” Chara muttered, before drawing out an 'uhm'.

“Call me Dr. Lyc.” The owner of the voice said.

“Sorry, Dr. Lyc…” Chara looked at the doctor, and his eyes widened at the sight. They weren't human. They were some kind of creature, with small cat ears, which looked to be attached to a hood and a lone mouth amidst a hollow darkness in their face.

“Ah, right. You haven’t seen a monster before.” Lyc cleared their throat. “Well, I don’t bite, if that makes you feel better.” Chara moved himself away from the doctor, pressing against the wall. Lyc stared at Chara, a little hurt. “Guess it doesn’t…” A buzz rang out through the room.

_“Dr. Lyc, Gaster and the king are here to see the human.”_

Lyc pressed a button on a nearby wall. “Send them down. The human’s going to want to meet them.” Lyc moved away from the button and stretched. “ Trust me, they’re good people. We all are…” The door to the room opened, and a 7ft figure approached the doctor, using hand gestures to speak. Shortly afterwards, another came into the room. They were a taller and bigger than the other figure, and their regal appearance only furthered their intimidating visage. Chara pressed himself further against the wall, clutching onto the hospital blanket. “Their...Rightfully frightened.” Lyc explained, sounding a bit hurt emotionally.

“It’s understandable.” The regal guest said. “After all, they hit their head pretty hard. I doubt they remember what Asirel did for them, or what he looks like.” Chara started shaking. Was this a dream? Is he dead? Where was he? What’s happening? The regal monster took notice, and took a few careful steps forward. They cleared their throat. “Howdy! I know this may sound sudden, but, would you like a cup of tea?” Chara stared at the monster, before slowly nodding his head. The 7ft figure nodded as well, and walked behind the king, only to come back with a tea set.

_“What the…?”_

“Ah yes, Gaster is a fan of his ‘shortcuts’, but honestly I just find that as him taking the lazy way out.” The regal monster said, prompting a middle finger from the figure that they didn’t see. Chara chuckled at the sight a bit, before the figure put their arm down when the regal monster looked over at them. “So, how’re you feeling, young one?” The regal monster reached out their hand.

Chara saw the hand reaching out to him, and the memories came flooding back. His hair being pulled, stopping him from dodging the eventual punch, his dad giving him a heft slap, him being pushed into the backyard for three days, not even being allowed inside for reasons he didn’t know, causing him to sleep inside of a tent, even when it was raining. All of them flashed in his mind at once, and he flinched, and cowered in the corner, burying his head behind his arms, and shaking in fear. He couldn’t see the monster's expression, but he stopped when he felt a gentle pat on his head. He looked up at the monster, who had an expression of worry, concern, and empathy. Chara looked at their face, which was showing so much care, and began to tear up.

* * *

Chara looked at the entrance to the house, which felt so dead. Frisk walked up to the door, and looked at the sign. Her eyes widened when she saw that the notice was written in a way she understood. “‘I’m sorry, but I’m not accepting visitors at the moment. Sorry for the inconvenience.-Asgore.’”

“That sounds like Dad alright.” Chara gave a slight chuckle. “Always apologizing for the littlest things.” Chara walked up to the door, and tried to open it. “He actually locked it this time.” Chara sounded surprised, before breaking the lock with a quick summoned knife. “Sorry to you, Dad, but we need to talk.” The two entered the house. It was so similar to the one in the Ruins, that it would be pretty much impossible to get lost in.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/ZEfY1-q0lmo) “Do you...Need a minute? To look around?” Frisk asked.

“Yeah. That sounds nice.” Chara replied. They entered the living room, which, other than the placing of the furniture, was very reminiscent of the one in Toriel's house. He briefly walked up to the bookshelf, and pulled out a scrapbook, which held many photographs, from before and after he fell down. He smiled at the pictures sadly, before setting it back and making his way to the kitchen. Out of curiosity, he opened the fridge, which was filled with unopened containers of snails. "That's odd. There's way too many unopened containers in here... _Is he not eating...?"_

Frisk picked up a note. “‘Howdy! Please help yourself to anything you like!’”

Chara sighed. “You have to take care of more than just your people, Dad.” The two left the kitchen, and walked down the hall. Frisk was about to open the first door, but Chara stopped her. “I want to save that room for last…” Frisk nodded. They continued down the hall, and entered the king’s room. The journal said ‘Nice day today!’, the ink was still just almost wet. Frisk looked at a trophy, which was a first place prize for a nose nuzzle championship. It was marked for the year ‘98. Chara looked inside of the bureau. “Do you think I should tell Papyrus I was raised by Santa?” Chara pointed to the Santa outfit inside.

“His head would burst.” Frisk replied.

“Fair point.” Chara closed the bureau. “You’ve been awfully quiet Cass. Is something wrong?” No response. Frisk opened up the drawer and pulled out a hand knitted, pink sweater. Written on it was ‘Mr. Dad Guy.’ Chara looked at it. “He kept it…” He looked at it solemnly, before Frisk put it back where it belonged. Frisk walked up to the bed.

“It doesn’t look like it’s been used in awhile.” She surmised.

“Damn it, Dad...You need to sleep like anyone else.” Chara muttered. They exited the room, and walked to the first door. “Frisk…”

Frisk turned to Chara. “Yeah?”

“I hope you don’t mind, but I’d rather be alone while looking around this room.”

Frisk nodded. “I kinda figured that'd be the case.”

Chara smiled, and entered the room. Inside were two twin-sized beds, and wrapped boxes were on the floor. Chara wandered around the room, looking at his drawing of a golden flower, and of the family photograph. “Everyones smiling.”

* * *

“Everyone line up!” The photographer said. Asgore and Toriel stood behind Asriel and Chara, who were holding bouquets of flowers.

“Why am I a part of this again?” Chara asked. “Isn’t this a family photo?” It had been almost a year, and Chara was still unsure of his place among the Dreemurr’s. He was a human, and they were monsters. More importantly, they were the royal family, and he’s just some poor kid who, quite literally, dropped in.

“Why wouldn’t you be in it?” Asriel asked.

Chara looked down to the floor and balanced on his heel and toes. “W-well…”

“Now Chara, I know it hasn’t been long, but surely you must have realized by now.” Toriel said.

“Realized what?” Chara raised a brow.

“You’re a part of this family!” Asriel replied.

“I...I am?”

“Of course!” Asgore answered. “After all, you not only needed one, but you have improved the lives of everyone here!”

“I…”

“Places everyone!” The photographer stated. Everyone got into position, while Chara was still processing the information. Even after the pie mishap, and after all of the little things he caused, they treated him kindly. They treated him with love. He could feel his eyes starting to water, and knew that a crying kid, no matter how happy looking, would ruin the piece, so he hid the tears in the easiest way possible. 

* * *

Chara opened one of the wrapped boxes, and pulled out another heart locket. This one was positioned like the human SOUL. Written on it was the phrase ‘Best Friends Forever’. Chara set it back into the box, and looked at his own, which held the same phrase.

* * *

“Okay Chara, do your creepy face!” Asriel pointed the camera at Chara. He rolled his eyes and did the face, which was just a hollow smile he would make when things got too stressful, but never having the energy to laugh it off. Asriel found it creepy, which Chara had to agree with at times. It was a smile, but there was no happiness. No joy. Asriel jumped, and then laughed as he checked the footage, before looking distraught. “I left the lens cap on…”

Chara facepalmed. “Really?”

“It’s okay, we can do it again!” Asriel lifted the camera up, only for Chara to cover the lens with his hand.

“No.”

Asriel looked betrayed. “Why not?”

“It hurts after awhile.” Chara explained simply. "In fact it hurts just doing it once."

Asriel sighed and nodded. “That’s fair.”

* * *

“Howdy Chara! Smile for the camera!” Asriel held up the camera, and Chara made a smile. “Ha!”

Chara's smiled faltered, and he raised a brow. “Ha?”

“This time I left the lens cap on, on purpose!! Now you’re smiling for noooo reason!!” Asriel laughed.

“You clever little…” Chara joined in on the laughs, before putting on a serious face. “Remember when we tried making a pie for Mom and Dad?”

“Hm? Oh yeah, I remember! The recipe called for cups of butter, but we accidently put in buttercups instead.”

Chara groaned. “That was so stupid of us.”

“Yeah, those flowers got him really sick. I felt so bad. Mom was really upset with us." Asriel sighed, and then lightly punch Chara in the arm. "I should have laughed it off, like you did…”

Chara sighed. “Can you turn off the camera?”

“Huh? Ok.” Asriel turned off the camera. “What’s up?”

“I’ve been thinking. About the barrier.” Asriel nodded. Chara took in a deep breath. “I want to try and free everyone.”

Asriel looked rightfully shocked, and the only thing he could let out was-“How?”

Chara scratched his arm. “Well…”

* * *

A few days later, Chara and Asriel were in the garden, picking out a few Buttercups. Asriel was sitting on a rock nearby, twirling his thumbs. “I...I don’t like this plan Chara…”

Chara turned to face Asriel, noting the tears descending down his face. “Are you crying?”

“Wh..What?” Asriel wiped his eyes. “N-no I’m not...Big kids don’t cry.”

Chara stood up from his position and stared Asriel down. “This is for the good of everyone, Az.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Asriel nodded sadly.

Chara sighed. “You’re having second thoughts.” Chara discarded the flowers. “Admit it.”

Asriel shook his head furiously and ran over to Chara. “No!”

“Eh?”

“I’d never doubt you Chara...Never!” Asriel declared with a smile.

“So you’re going through with this?”

“Y...Yeah! We’ll be strong! We’ll free everyone.”

Chara wasn’t sure what to say, but he nodded. “R-right!”

“I’ll get the flowers! I’ll meet you in the kitchen!” Asriel began picking up the discarded flowers, while Chara walked away.

_“You can change your mind anytime.”_

* * *

“Ch-Chara, I’m not sure I can go through with this.” Asriel was crying on Chara’s bed. Chara couldn’t move as much anymore, but he gave a slight, crackling chuckle.

“Bit too late for that now, Az.”

“I k-know that, but…” Asriel kept crying.

“Come on, Az. Stop being such a crybaby! You should smile… After all, you’re going to be free.” Chara muttered.

“Chara…” Asriel wiped his eyes. “Right...We just need to get six more afterwards, right?” Chara nodded. “Of course! And I-I promise...N-no more cr-crying…” Asriel teared up again. “B-b-big k-kids don’t…”

* * *

Chara clutched his locket, with tears streaming down his face. _“Real friends don’t send one off to their deaths…”_ Chara held the locket close to his chest, staying still for what felt like days. He took a deep breath, and with a quick motion, removed the locket, and set it down with it’s other self. _“I’m sorry Az...I really am….”_ Chara buried his face in his hands, and sobbed. After a minute or two, he wiped his eyes, and walked out of the room. Frisk was waiting patiently outside.

“You get it out of your system?” She asked.

Chara nodded.

“Good.” Frisk smiled. They approached the stairs, when Chara stopped and picked up a calendar for the end of 2017. “Chara?” Frisk glanced at the calendar, and noticed that there was a date circled on it. "Is that-"

“The day I came here…”

* * *

“Asriel? Mr. Asgore? Mrs. Toriel?” Chara walked through the golden corridor, looking for the Dreemurr’s. It’s been a full year since he fell, and he wanted to visit the Ruins, maybe plant a few flowers in the spot he fell, just in case. Would flowers break someone’s fall? Well, if anything, at least it’ll make the drop hurt a lot less. He approached the throne room. “Geez, where is every-” Chara looked inside the throne room, and he lost his train of thought.

Asgore was hanging a banner up between two pillars. He looked down at Chara, and then laughed. “Well, there goes the surprise!” Asriel and Toriel looked up from the small table, having been pulled out from their thoughts from Asgore's laugh.

“Chara! You’re here!” Asriel said cheerfully.

“We were going to get you when we were done, but now works too!” Toriel said.

Chara looked up at the banner, which read ‘Happy Birthday.’ “What’s going on?” Chara asked Asriel.

“It’s your Birthday party!!”

“My…”

“Well, not birthday technically, but Asriel thought we should treat it like one..” Asgore said.

“It’s to celebrate the day we found you!" Toriel explained cheerfully. "The day you became a part of our family!”

Chara was speechless. Asriel was jumping up and down with joy. “Mom! Can I give Chara his gift now!?”

“I don’t see why not, so of course you may!”

“Yes!” Asriel picked up a present wrapped in a floral pattern. “Here you go!” He handed Chara the gift. “I wrapped it myself! I hope you like it! _It took awhile to figure out what you’d like.”_

Chara unwrapped the gift. The first thing was a sketchpad and a box of colored pencils, and the second was a green sweater with a single, yellow stripe. It was similar to Asriel’s.

“We know you like to draw, so we got you the sketchpad and colored pencils for when you wanted to draw!” Asriel explained. “And we know that you don’t like reapplying the bandages on your arms so much, so we made you a sweater so you don’t have to worry about it! Now we match!” Asriel went on and on, but Chara was stunned silent. “We’ve been planning this for a couple of months, and we wanted to do something that would make you feel happy, and a birthday was the best way to do that! And, um…” Asriel stopped when he noticed tears running down Chara’s face. “Do you not like it?”

Chara wiped his eyes, but tears kept coming. “I-it’s not that. It-it’s just...I never...Had something like this done for me before…” The Dreemurr’s all exchanged a glance. “S-so...Th-thank you...Thank you guys so much.” Chara broke down into sobs, and the family all gave him a hug.

* * *

Chara and Frisk walked down the stairs, and made their way down the path. It was weird for Chara. The grey everything was one aspect, but the fact that there were hardly any monsters present was another. Even when they were walking to the house, everything was dead silent. It was like this specific portion of the underground had been frozen.

“It’s really quiet." Chara muttered, looking at the walls.

"Yeah." Frisk nodded. "It's almost kinda scary but..."

"But?" Chara raised a brow.

“It’s kinda scary, but it’s also nice. We went to so many places, and each one had it’s own background noise. Snowdin had the noises of the town and the crunch of the snow, Waterfall had the constant sound of water, Hotland was a mess of cogs, gears and whatever Mettaton had going on in the background of his shows. Even the Ruins had the sounds of the monster inhabiting it.” Frisk explained, looking out into the greyscale city. “It’s been hardly quiet since we started. It feels nice. Not having too much noise, other than the echo of our footprints...”

Chara smiled. “Then we’ll just enjoy this! I’m sure when we’re done, it’s going to get busy again.”

“Yeah…”

“Of all the places we’ve been, which was your favorite?” Chara suddenly asked.

Frisk hummed. “I’d have to say Snowdin. The cold can be managed with decent layers of clothing, and the friendly atmosphere of the town made me feel welcome, even if we were supposed to be captured, it just felt so nice.”

Chara chuckled. “I guess that makes sense.”

“What about you?” Frisk asked.

Chara tapped his chin in thought. “I’m not sure actually. Even when I was first down here, I never really _HAD_ a favorite location. I just liked walking around all the area’s. Meeting all the monsters. Causing small portions of trouble. I guess you could say, that the underground itself is my favorite.”

Frisk giggled. “That’s a lot of ground.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Chara smiled, and took Frisk by the hand. The two walked in silence, not even paying the view of the massive city any mind. Chara sighed. “Hey Frisk?”

“Yeah?”

“I know I said we’d go around, and visit all the views you missed out on, because of your lack of glasses, but…”

“But?”

Chara took a deep breath. “Maybe, before or after we do that, we could…”

Frisk stopped and giggled. “Are you trying to ask me on a date?”

Chara’s entire face went red. “Um...I guess so?" Chara scratched his head. "Honestly, this whole thing is pretty new to me, so..."

Frisk rolled her eyes and gave Chara a kiss, which he gladly accepted, leaning into it. After a few seconds, Frisk pulled away and smiled. "I'd love to." Chara broke out into a smile of his own, and gave Frisk a hug, to which she returned. The two continued their trek, and reached the end of the path, which led to a long, golden corridor. Frisk and Chara spotted a SAVE point, and used it.

**Frisk and Chara**

**Both LV 1**

**FILE SAVED**

“No dialogue this time huh?” Chara said.

“Guess they’re not feeling up to it.” Frisk muttered.

“I guess.” Chara sighed. “Just a few more steps.” Chara began walking down the corridor, with Frisk a few steps behind him. It seemed longer than usual. The two made it to the halfway point, before stopping in their tracks. The chime of a bell rang throughout, and the two humans stared at the figure blocking their way. “Sans?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for most of the flashbacks + reference for the calendar flashback: https://tryingforchances.tumblr.com/post/133919884143/more-so-this-was-fun-to-draw-if-youre


	38. kid...turn back. please

“Sans?” Chara said at the sight of the skeleton, who was blocking their path to Asgore.

“So you two finally made it. The end of your journey is at hand.” Sans replied.

“What’s going on…?” Frisk asked.

“In a few moments, you will meet the king." Sans continued, ignoring Frisk's question. "Together, you two will determine the future of this world.” The humans stood silent. “However, that’s then. Now. you will be judged. You will be judged for your every action.”

“Our actions?” Chara muttered.

“You will be judged for every EXP you’ve earned.” Sans continued, causing Chara to freeze.

“EXP?” Frisk raised a brow.

“It’s an acronym.” Chara replied. “It stands for Execution Points.”

“A way of quantifying the pain you have inflicted on others.” Sans added. “When you kill someone, your EXP increases. When you have enough EXP, your LOVE increases." Sans paused and stared at the humans, one of whom was very confused by all this. "LOVE, too, is an acronym. It stands for Level of Violence.” Frisk felt a chill run down her spine, while Chara paid close attention. “A way of measuring someone’s capacity to hurt.”

“The more you kill, the easier it becomes to distance yourself.” Chara said. “The more you distance yourself, the less you will hurt, and the more easily you can bring yourself to hurt others…”

Sans nodded. “but you two, never gained any LOVE." Sans chuckled, which kind of made Frisk irritated for a second. "‘course, that doesn’t mean you’re completely innocent or naïve." Sans added after a few seconds of silence. "just that you kept a certain tenderness in your hearts. no matter the struggles or hardships you faced, you strived to do the right thing. you two refused to hurt anyone.” Sans smile widened, and seemed more genuine. “even when you two ran away, you did it with a smile. you never gained LOVE, but you gained love.” Frisk and Chara smiled. “now, you’re about to face the greatest challenge of your entire journey." Sans rested his hands inside his jacket pockets. "your actions here, will determine the fate of the entire world.” The two humans tensed up, feeling the weight of the situation on their shoulders. “which is why i have to say this. kid…” Sans faced Chara directly. “turn back. please.”

“What?” The two said in sync.

“i know it seems like a lofty request, but please, think about what this will mean for the underground-”

“No…” Chara interrupted. “We came this far, why would we turn back now?!”

“He’s right!" Frisk cried out. "The whole reason we came here was to meet with Asgore! To tell him to stop!" Frisk approached the skeleton angrily. "We’re so close, so why would we give up now?!”

Sans sighed. “So you won’t turn back, even if i ask?” Frisk and Chara shook their heads. “then i guess we have to do this the hard way.” The world turned monochrome, as Sans initiated a fight. He looked outside the window solemnly. “it’s a beautiful day outside. birds are singing. flowers are blooming. perfect day, for a game of catch.” Sans sighed. “sorry kids.” Sans’ left eye glowed blue, as he slammed the SOULS onto the ground.

“Frisk, jump!” Chara yelled out. The two jumped and a wall of bones shot out from the ground. Their SOULS returned to normal as the landed back onto the ground, just in time for Sans to send out a wave of blue, canine-skulled blasters. “Sans…”

Sans popped his knuckles and and neck. “well..." He rested his hands back into his pockets. "this is going to be a long fight.” 

([BGM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgQ7br4OJOU))

“Sans, just let us through! We came here for a reason!” Chara tried to run through, but Sans sent Chara back.

“kid, no matter what, it’s going to come down to a fight.” Sans summoned a hail of bones from behind him, with a row of blue bones preventing the two from trying to advance.

“Sans please!” Frisk tried to proceed, but was met with the same outcome as Chara.

“no can do kid. the way i see it, there’s only been two outcomes." Sans pulled out a gold coin. He turned it over to show the heads side of it. "heads, you convince asgore to stop, and everything goes back to normal." Sans flipped the coin over to it's tail side. "tails, asgore claims that final SOUL, at the cost of everyone’s happiness." He pocketed the coin and sighed. "i’m not one for gambling, but as you two went on..." He pulled down one of his jacket strings to it's limit. "the chances of tails became more and more likely.” Sans sent out a blue attack, that had the promise of it being jumpable, but the two decided against it. Chara gritted his teeth and tried to sidestep Sans whe the attack was over, but he immediately blocked Chara's path, and threw him back. “no can do kid.” Sans pinched his nose ridge. “what’s your plan exactly?" He asked. "what are you even going to say to try and convince him?” Sans sent out more blue attacks, with a blue blaster firing away at the path. The bones were short enough for the two to try and proceed, but Sans threw them back.

“Everything we did, was all for this moment!! We need to do this!! **_I need to do this!!_ ** _”_ Chara tried to push Sans out of the way, but Sans dodged and threw Chara back.

“kid…” Sans blocked the way again with bones half-hazardly being tossed around, with a blue blaster firing away into said bones. Frisk pulled out her phone and tried to use the jetpack. It went about as well as they could expect when trying to get past someone with gravity powers. “you’ve both made a lot of friends. i doubt they’d want to hear about either of you dying to the king.” The humans jumped over the blue attacks, only to be thrown back before a giant wall amassed of bones shot out from behind Sans.

“Sans please, I need to fix this! I HAVE to fix this mess!!” Chara tried to charge past Sans, but was thrown to the floor.

“i think it’s best if i keep you both there.” Sans muttered, holding the two SOULS down on the ground.

“It’s MY mess!! Not his!!!” Chara cried out.

“Chara…”

“kid…” Sans kept them in place.

“I’m the reason Asriel died. I’m the reason those kids died. Everything that happened down here. IT’S ALL MY FAULT!!!”

“no it’s not chara. you didn’t trap us down here. everything that happened was the result of some stupid fear.” Sans replied, still holding them in place.

“But I was the one who came up with the plan to get Asriel behind the barrier. I was the one who tried to give you guys freedom. I was the one who was supposed to give hope...But instead….” Tears ran down Chara’s face and he fell to his knees.

“Chara….” Frisk approached Chara, and gave him a hug. He didn’t notice. Sans remained silent.

“Instead I just robbed it...I wanted to free you guys...Give you real hope. Instead I just made everything worse!!!” Chara started sobbing. _“I just made this prison even worse than it already was…”_ Neither Frisk nor Sans responded. “I have a chance….To at least make it right….To make it so that no one else has to die...Like the others…”

Cass appeared before the group, holding back tears of her own and approached Sans. “Let him through. If not for his sake...Than for mine, and the others. So we can be at peace…”

Sans sighed. “you kids…” He ended the fight, and approached Chara. “look. i’m sorry about what happened, kid, but don’t beat yourself up over it.” Chara looked up at Sans. “i’ve seen asgore do it enough as is and it’s pretty irritating. i don’t need you doing it too.”

Chara stopped crying, and remained still. “I just...Want to apologize...For what I did…”

Sans sighed. “and you should get that chance. i’m sorry…” Sans extended his hand. Chara reached up to grab it, but felt a chill run deep down, and a sharp pain in his stomach. “kid?”

“I’m...I’m fine.” Chara took Sans’ hand and was helped up. “Just...Don’t do that again…”

“i promise.” Sans nodded, and Chara went wide eyed.

“Um…” Frisk dug her boot into the floor. “I know it’s sudden, but,” She pulled out a piece of paper, and handed it to Sans. “It said to give it to you in the judgment hall, which I assume is here.”

Sans looked over it, and nodded. “i’ll read it when i head home. now, go make things right.” Sans walked behind a pillar, and left the area. Frisk looked over at Chara.

“Are you ok? You kinda...Reacted strangely.”

“I’ll tell you when we’re done. For now, let’s find where to give these items back.” Chara replied.

“I can help with that. I can feel my body nearby.” Cass said.

“Then let’s go. The faster we get this done, the sooner we can relax.” Frisk said with a small smile.

“Yeah. Let’s talk the sense into Dad…” They continued down the corridor, which now smelled of bones, and reached the end. Chara took a deep breath, and stepped through it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're the type of person who follows Undertale AU's, you probably already know what inspired this. If you're not. Look up Inverted Fate. It's really well made, and pretty god damn funny.


	39. Bergentrückung

Sans walked through the door to his house, and saw Papyrus and Toriel doing something in the kitchen. She promised to teach Papyrus some more cooking options, rather than keep him at pasta like Undyne did for some reason. That was good, since Undyne’s methods had left her with a burnt down house on many occasions, which had _almost_ translated to Papyrus doing the same to their house. Good thing he never actually tried his spaghetti, because it wasn’t that good. He made good lasagna though, from what Sans could gather from the remains Toby didn’t eat. Sans didn’t want to interrupt them, nor did he want to say where he was, because then Toriel might pry, and the last thing he needed was her finding out he tried to force Chara and Frisk to turn back. Unfortunately Papyrus noticed him. “SANS, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?”

“work.” Sans answered simply.

“WORK?" Papyrus raised a brow ridge. "REALLY?!”

“you don’t know what i do when i’m not in snowdin.” Sans winked.

“YOU SELL HOTDOGS IN HOTLAND." Papyrus replied in an annoyed tone. "YOU AVOID WORK BY DOING WORK. IT’S HONESTLY KIND OF IMPRESSIVE.”

Sans chuckled. “ya got me.” Sans walked up the stairs.

Papyrus looked down at the floor. “SANS YOU DROPPED SOMETHING!!”

“uh-huh.”

“SANS!!!” Papyrus called out again, only for Sans to retreat to his room. Papyrus sighed and picked up a piece of paper off the floor. He opened the paper up and looked at the contents. “A NOTE?”

“Papyrus, it’s not polite to get into someone else's private affairs.” Toriel warned.

“SANS IS DIFFERENT." Papyrus defended. "SOMETIMES I NEED TO, OTHERWISE HE’D NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE! BESIDES, SOMETHING CLEARLY WAS WRONG…”

Toriel raised a brow, and held her hands together. “How could you tell?”

“I NOTICED WHEN SANS IS RELAXED, HE WINKS WITH HIS LEFT EYE, BUT WHEN HE’S NERVOUS OR STRESSED, HE WINKS WITH HIS RIGHT EYE, LIKE HE JUST DID.” Papyrus began reading the note. “LET’S SEE HERE…”

* * *

Chara rested his hand on the first coffin. The one that held his name. It was empty of course, but it still feels so odd, to have reminders that you were once dead. He sighed and set down his portable interdimensional box, and began laying out all the items that belonged to the six fallen children. A ribbon and a toy knife, for Cass. The gloves and bandana, for Alex. Ballet items for Alyssa. Glasses and notebook, for Sam. Frying pan and apron, for Luke and the cowboy hat and gun for Clover. “Should we lay them onto the coffin, or open the coffin up and set them inside?” Frisk asked.

“I’d rather not open them.” Chara replied solemnly.

Frisk scratched her arm nervously. “R-right…”

Chara handed Frisk the items, and she’d leave them on the coffin they belonged to. Cass appeared, and looked at the coffins solemnly. “Hey Sam, Clover, Alex...We got your stuff back!” Her voice hitched. “We’re at the end now...So…”

Frisk looked down at Cass and sighed. “Cass…”

“I’m good. Alyssa and Luke have been silent the entire time, so I needed to let them know…” Cass gave a sad smile and then made herself invisible again.

Chara and Frisk nodded sadly, and finished laying down the items. Chara reattached the box to his belt, while Frisk began eyeing the apron strangely. "Frisk?" Chara tapped her shoulder. "You good?" Frisk glanced at Chara, and then back at the apron. She pointed out a small pocket that had gone unnoticed by the two, which in turn, had the corner of a piece of paper in it. Chara raised a brow, and took the paper from the pocket. "What's this?"

"I'm not sure." Frisk replied. "It slid out slightly when I set the apron down."

Chara examined the slip of paper over, and noticed faint lettering on one side of it. "It looks like an address was written on here...But the writing's been faded badly. The only part that seems clear is 'please give this to them.'" The two exchanged a glance. "Hey Cass, do you know if-" Before Chara could finish, Cass reappeared before them, but only gave a thumbs up before going invisible again. Chara looked at the note, and with a sigh, he opened it up and looked at the contents. [(BGM)](https://youtu.be/LCIQjO1x8hI)

_Hello._

_If you're reading this, then chances are, you may have noticed that the people who gave it to you..._ _weren't human..._

_You may have been wondering where I went. Um, well, I fell down a hole. In the mountain._

_It actually wasn't that bad. I'm sure you've noticed, but, monsters apparently do exist, and they're actually really nice!_

_Although, if you're reading this, then that statement might seem...false...._

_You see, the monsters were trapped beneath the mountain, how ever many years ago, by a spell._

_The spell created a barrier around the mountain, and could only be broken, by the same power that made it._

_That power being...seven human souls._

_You see, humans were the ones that trapped them under the mountain, so that's why, they might seem hostile._

_But if you're reading this, then, at least they were kind enough to grant my last request so...that's something, at least..._

_I...want to apologize. All of you were probably worried sick about me, and..._

_When I fell down, they had 4 souls gathered already..._

_During my adventure, I began to feel really bad for the monsters. Not being able to see sunlight, the stars or...real weather._

_So, I asked a couple of guards to take me to their king and...well..._

_I really am sorry. For dropping this all on you guys so suddenly. I really wanted to help the monsters even if...it meant that you guys would..._

_But look on the bright side! Maybe soon...we can all see each other again..._

_-Luke_

Frisk covered her mouth and gasped, while Chara just stared at the note in shock. "Am I understanding this correctly...?" Frisk muttered, laying a hand on Chara's shoulder, who just set the note down.

"I think so..." Chara replied, before turning towards the exit. He looked back at Frisk somberly. "I..." He sighed and began walking up the stairs. "Let's go..." Frisk looked between the stairs and the note. She clutched her chest, and then followed Chara up the stairs and towards the entrance to the throne room. nearby was a SAVE point, which the two promptly interacted with.

**Frisk and Chara**

**Both LV 1**

**FILE SAVED**

“Are you ready?” Frisk asked.

“No, but I need to do this…” He took hold of Frisk’s hand.

“I know you do…” Frisk tightened her own grip. The two took a deep breath and walked into the throne room. [(BGM)](https://youtu.be/jQhJmDzGBRg) The sun was beating down through the holes in the ceiling, and the ground was overtaken by Golden Flowers, with some creeping up the walls. In the middle of this, was a lone horned figure, cloaked in a deep purple garb with golden pauldrons, the king, Asgore, humming a somber tune as he watered the flowers. The two took a few cautious steps, when Asgore stopped, and raised the watering can.

“I’m sorry, but I’m afraid I still need some more time alone.” Asgore set down the can and turned to the humans, giving Frisk a better view of the nearly giant caprine monster. His horns were longer than Toriel's and he had golden hair and beard, and his iris' were one part blue and one part orange in each eye, and the faint glimmer of armor shone beneath his cape, along with the faint sounds of metal clinking together when he moved. “But if it’s important, we ca-” He flinched and took a few steps back at the sight. His mouth and eyes were wide open in shock, as he stared directly at Chara, almost ignoring Frisk all together. Chara took a step forward.

“Surprise…!” Chara made jazz hands, but quickly put them down, and scratched his arm. “Hi...Dad…”

Asgore was still stunned. “Y-you...Ch-Chara, I…You’re alive…”

Chara nodded, and shrugged with a nervous smile. “I’m alive.”

“B-but…”

“It will require some explanations, but for now…” Chara sighed. “I know about the others. The other children…”

“Chara...I…” Asgore was still at a loss for words.

Chara clutched his arm. “I...We came here to tell you, that it’s not worth it.” Chara gestured to Frisk and himself.

Asgore sat himself down on the throne, and buried his face in his hands. “I...I heard that you were back...But I…”

“You didn’t want to believe it.” Chara guessed. He nodded understandably, and sighed. “Honestly, if I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t have believed it either.”

Asgore looked at Chara. “So you heard about my declaration then...To destroy humanity…” Tears were starting to build up in his eyes.

“We did...That’s why we’re here. To say that it’s not worth it…” Chara reiterated, causing Asgore to lower his head in shame. “You’re not the first one to have that plan anyway." Chara muttered. "At least, not the first one to have the plan of getting seven SOULS to break the barrier.”

“Chara…” Asgore looked at him.

Chara took a deep breath. “I had that plan too...That’s why…” Tears were streaming down both of their faces. “I’m sorry...This all happened...Because of me…” Frisk walked up to Chara, and set a hand on his back.

“You wanted...To free us? So that’s why…” Chara nodded. Asgore scratched his beard. “I...I see.” He stood up, and walked from the throne, staring up into the sky. “I had my suspicions you know…” Chara and Frisk looked up at him in shock. “When you got sick, some of the symptoms were the same as mine, during that pie incident…” Asgore looked at the floor. “I brushed it off as a coincidence…”

Chara tried resting an arm on Asgore, but then decided against it. “Dad…”

“Follow me…” Asgore went to the room further ahead of the throne room. Chara and Frisk followed him, ignoring the nearby SAVE point. Asgore stopped along the path. “I had always wondered, yet I never had the courage to ask...Even when you two died, I never had the courage to bring it up…” Asgore continued down the path.

“I’m sure no one would want to think that.” Frisk said.

“Especially a father.” Chara added. The two followed Asgore, who was standing in front of a doorway.

“I had wondered, if it was because of the pressure. Because of me calling you our hope.” Asgore sighed, and entered the next room. Frisk and Chara looked at the SAVE point, and decided to use it, just in case. They entered the room, and Frisk’s jaw dropped.

“Is this…?”

“This is the barrier, keeping everyone trapped down here.” Chara answered. The room looked like an endless hallway, that stretched for miles, spanning between pure white, and pure black. Asgore looked on, and the floor opened up, to reveal a set of jars. Six of them had been filled with a SOUL, but all but one was missing a piece. Chara clutched his chest, staring at the other SOULS, before he noticed the Cyan SOUL, Cass', was complete fine. _Weren't they all...?_

“When you died...I swore I would destroy humanity, using the SOULS of any human who fell down here. The people were losing hope, so it was the only solution I could think of.” Asgore explained, clutching his chest. “But...I never truly wanted to fight. I just wanted to bring back hope. To bring the spirits of my people back up.” Chara and Frisk remained silent. “It seems that I made the wrong choice…”

Frisk approached Asgore. “You were blinded by heartache. By sadness. And, blinded by Anger. It’s understandable. But you can stop this. You don’t have to go any further.”

“She’s right. You can call off the war. You don’t have to get revenge. We can put things back to how they were…” Chara smiled.

“That sounds nice…” Asgore replied. “But as much as it pains me to say it. No…”

“No?” The two asked.

“After everything I did. After everything I didn’t do. After everything that happened because of me…” The light from the barrier filled the room, as twilight peaked from beyond it. The two humans were at the end of their journey, and were filled with Determination. [“I don’t deserve mercy.”](https://youtu.be/l99uLeEVqp8) Asgore lowered his head, summoned a trident, and slammed it into the ground, turning the world greyscale as Asgore wielded the trident in his hands.

“Wait, we don’t have to fight!” Chara cried out. Asgore’s hands tremble for a moment before summoning a row of fire between the two. Chara pulled Frisk away from the attack.

“Asgore please! We can fix this!! Fighting isn’t necessary!!” Frisk tried to reason. Asgore’s breath faltered. His eyes flashed white twice from his left, and once from his right. Chara pushed Frisk out of the way two walls of fire made their way from Asgore’s left, and the two retreated from Asgore’s right as flames erupted from that side.

“Dad, please! We’re not going to fight you!!” Chara had to shout to be heard from the flames. “You may think you don’t deserve mercy, but that won’t stop us from not attacking!!” Recollection flashed in Asgore’s eyes, before they glowed blue and orange. Chara’s eyes flashed orange, and when Asgore’s second swipe came, Chara blocked it with his own orange attack. “We’re not going to fight you. Until you realize that it doesn’t have to be like this, we’ll survive as long as it takes.” 

Rows of flames formulated in a circle closed in on the two, but they passed through by slipping in between the empty spaces. “Think about your people!! Don’t you realize that they’ll miss you!?” Frisk pleaded. Asgore’s stance seemed to soften a bit. A tidal wave of fire came towards the two, and they had to move about to find the perfect spacing to pass through unscathed. “We told everyone that we would convince you to stop!! That fighting wouldn’t be necessary!” Frisk pleaded once again. “Don’t you realize that everyone will feel betrayed? Everyone would think we lied to them!!” Asgore’s grip on his trident loosened. He swiped at them with an attack of orange, followed by a couple of blue attacks.

“You don’t have to blame yourself!!” Chara said. “I was the one who tried to get Asriel to free everyone by fighting back against the humans! If I didn’t try and force him, he would’ve been fine!! It’s not just your fault!!” A tear ran down Asgore’s face. He summoned rows of fire, one after the other, and the two humans dodged them, but had sustained some damage. “It’s because of me that this happened!! So let me try and fix it! You don’t have to carry the burden on your own!!” Asgore shuffled around with uncertainty, before his eyes flashed white on his left. The two avoided the flames. “Please...Just let us help you…” Chara began tearing up. Asgore began to lose his grip on his trident. The two had to slip though the wave of fire once again, but sustained more damage. The two shared a bicicle.

“Why? Why do you want us to fight you?! We never wanted to fight!! So why?” Frisk began tearing up herself. Asgore’s stance softened. The middle was being mildly blocked by fire, while walls of flames would appear on either side of the humans. “We promised we would try and talk sense into you! That this didn’t need to end in fighting!! So why?” Asgore’s grip loosened even further. The two dodged the circular rows of flame. “We promised her we could resolve this…” Asgore’s stance began to crumble. The two moved through all the orange attacks.

“Please...Stop…” Chara pleaded. Asgore had almost lost his hold on the trident. The two tried to dodge the rows of flame he made, but were beginning to get sloppy, causing them to sustain damage.

“So many believed we could get through to you...That you’d listen to us…” Frisk began to tremble. Asgore seemed to remember something, since he slightly backed away at the sight. The two could barely dodge the wave of flames. Frisk ate a legendary hero, while Chara ate the pie. Asgore nearly lost his footing at the smell of the pie. Frisk and Chara remained still until the orange attack came.

“We don’t...Have to fight...We shouldn’t have to…” Chara could barely see through his tears. Asgore had summoned the flames, but they went everywhere but to the humans. Chara didn’t have any other words. He just unhooked the dagger from his belt, and threw it to the floor, before dropping to his knees. “We won’t…” Asgore looked at the dagger, and trembled, before he too, [dropped his weapon, and fell to his knees.](https://youtu.be/jQhJmDzGBRg)

“I cannot take this any longer…” Asgore muttered. “I heard that you had returned, a few days ago. My mind was racing, because...It didn’t feel right.” Asgore’s breath shook. “It sounded like a dream. And truthfully, a part of me was hoping that…”

“It’d be Asriel…” Chara filled in the blank.

“Yes...I felt guilty for thinking that way, but I also didn’t want to believe. I was afraid that you would be angry. That you’d be afraid of me...All over again…” Asgore began sobbing.

Chara’s breathing hitched. “I was shocked at first...But I knew. I knew that something like that would kill you inside. That’s why we came here. To save you from yourself.” Asgore looked up at Chara. “You can stop now. You don’t have to worry about trying to get the SOULS anymore. Everything, can go back to normal.” Chara began to smile. “We can go back, to being a happy family!”

“But what about her?” Asgore gestured to Frisk. “Wouldn’t she want to return home? To the surface?”

“I don’t want to go back to the surface!” Frisk joined the two. “There’s nothing left for me up there! I want to stay down here! With my friends, with you...With Chara…” Frisk began to tear up even more. Asgore looked at her solemnly.

“I never did ask for your name…”

“I'm Frisk…” She replied. Asgore looked at the two.

“Chara, Frisk...I promise...No more fighting.” Asgore began to smile. “For as long as you two remain down here, we will take good care of you.” The two humans began to smile even more. “We could sit in the living room, telling stories...Eating Butterscotch pie...Drinking tea...Even do some gardening…” Asgore pulled them into a hug, which they accepted. “You were right, Chara...We can go back...To being a happy family.” The three of them remained still, until the two humans heard a familiar sound.

“Oh no!” Chara looked at the pellets surrounding them. Asgore picked the humans up and threw them away from the ring of pellets, before they closed in on him. “DAD!!!” Asgore looked at Chara in shock, and sadness, before turning to dust. His SOUL appeared before them, but one last, lone pellet struck it, causing it to shatter. Chara looked at the pile of dust on the floor. “no…NO!!!” He buried his face in his hands.

_“Flowey…”_ Frisk clutched her fists in anger.

“You IDIOTS.” Flowey appeared before them. “You haven’t learned a thing!” The SOULS flew around him. “In this world…”

_“No…!”_ The two looked on in fear, as Flowey’s face began to twist and warp.

_“I T S K I L L O R B E K I L L E D.”_ Flowey began to howl with laughter, as he absorbed the human SOULS.

* * *

Long ago, two races ruled over Earth. HUMANS and MONSTERS. One day, they all disa _ppeared wit h o u t A **T R A C E.** _


	40. YoUr BeSt NiGhTmArE

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration for the fallen children scenes: https://www.deviantart.com/doc-diventia/gallery/60472912/undertale-comic  
> Photoshop Flowey Transformation reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HG-RWA1kbk0  
> How I picture Flowey's voice would sound like after absorbing the SOULS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOHQK86Dh-U

Chara and Frisk looked around wildly at their surroundings. There was nothing but darkness, no matter where they looked. Frisk tried to feel around, but no matter where she placed her hand, there was nothing. The only thing that felt solid was the ground, but even then, it looked like there should be nothing. She could feel her blood run ice cold. Chara was not handling anything well. In just a short period, his Dad tried to get the two of them to kill him, and when they finally convinced him, Flowey showed up and killed Asgore, and absorbed the SOULS. Now Chara and Frisk were in the void. He couldn’t help but collapse to his knees hugging himself for comfort. Any tears he would’ve had were all dried out.

“Chara, what’s going on?”

“We’re in the void…” Chara replied in a rushed tone. “Flowey trapped us in the void…”

“We’re not trapped…” Frisk said, although it was mainly to herself. “We can get out of this…” She hummed in thought. “LOAD...We can load!!”

“LOAD….” Chara shot his head up. “That’s right, we can go back!!”

A rumbling came from...Somewhere. “What was that?” Frisk asked. The rumbling came again. Then again. The noise grew louder and louder till the sound of something crashing filled the location. The two heard static, and looked up. Their expressions were beyond description. “Howdy! It’s me, FLOWEY. FLOWEY the FLOWER.” His voice seemed deeper somehow.

“You!” Chara reacted as one would expect. “You goddamn weed!”

“Now don’t get mad at me! In fact, I owe you two a huge thanks! You really did a number on that old fool.”

Frisk looked at Flowey angrily, only to replace that anger with confusion. “But...We didn’t-”

“Attack him? No, you didn’t. But you’re actions, you’re words, they all made him drop his guard. Made him refuse to fight. You know what happens when a monster refuses to put up a good defense, in the face of something dangerous!!” Flowey’s face disappeared, and a laugh filled the void.

“Why you…!”

Flowey’s face returned after a hint of static appeared. “Boy, I’ve been empty for so long. It feels great to have a SOUL inside me again!”

_“Again…?”_ Frisk muttered.

“Mmmm, I can feel them wriggling.” Flowey looked at Chara, who was thoroughly pissed. “Aw, you’re feeling left out, aren’t you?” Flowey winked. Chara got angrier, and Frisk summoned her sword. “Well, that’s just perfect! After all, I only have six SOULS. I only need one more.” Flowey’s face changed. “Before I become GOD!” Chara summoned a few knives. “And then, with my newfound powers.” Flowey’s face changed to a visage of Toriel, with his voice changing to a distorted version of her’s. “Monsters.” His face changed into a visage of Frisk’s. “Humans.” Three circles made their way onto his face, making circular motions. “Everyone.” The white of his face was inverted, and a hollow smile was plastered onto his face. “I’ll show them all the real meaning of this world!” Another laugh rang out through the void.

Frisk tightened the grip on her sword. “We can still-”

“Oh, don’t bother escaping to your old SAVE FILE.” Flowey grinned, before making his usual evil face. “It’s gone FOREVER.” The two were shocked. “Oh, but don’t worry! Your old friend Flowey, has already worked out a replacement for you!” Flowey’s face went into a demonic look, with pitch black eyes with single white dots and razor sharp teeth. “I’ll SAVE over your own deaths!! So you can watch me tear you to bloody pieces!! Over, and over and OVEEERRRR.”

Frisk had enough of the monologue and rushed over to the giant flower head. The moment she got close, several vines appeared from nowhere, and pierced through her abdomen. “FRISK!!!” Chara cried out. She looked back at him, before the vines spread apart at lightning speed, tearing Frisk to shreds, as bits of bloodied cloth and viscera littered all around. Chara stared out in horror, before the world shifted, and Frisk was brought back beside him. She dropped to her knees, and looked ready to vomit, her eyes wide, and full of dread.

“What was that? Did you really think you’d be able to stop me?” Flowey laughed. “You really ARE idiots.” Chara and Frisk’s SOULS flickered, as well as the six SOULS, which each took to a different location. Flowey’s face disappeared, and a TV was illuminated in the darkness. On it, was the image of something being made in a computer program. The TV then went black, as a grotesque mass of flesh erupted from the bottom, growing a mouth with serrated molars, and a smaller, inner mouth further in, as well as closed eyes and the small workings of nostrils. Chara looked on as Frisk slowly re-summoned her weapon, both feeling the existential horror crawling down their spines. The eyes shot open and looked at the two, as the mouth opened and repeatedly. Two tubes latched on to different sides of the mouth. Frisk clutched her sword with both hands, and Chara summoned more knives, before the ground shook beneath them, and a grassy, three clawed hand appeared from the left and right, slamming into the ground to hoist the monstrosity up. Tendrils pierced the ceiling, lifting the abomination up even further, as two more eyes manifested and stared down at the two frightened humans. Two massive stems began crawling from behind the demon, with no end to their movement. The room turned red as the beast looked down on them, before a happy looking face appeared on the screen, before it bared it’s teeth, and the eyes widened sideways, revealing a red background with green pupils. Both the face on the screen as well as the grotesque mouth began to laugh.

Chara and Frisk barely had time to register what they had just witnessed, before pellets began to surround multiple parts of the area. Chara and Frisk ran around to avoid them, only to run into the path of several vines, which ripped their clothes as they were caught in the tangled mess. The upper eyes began to fire serrated bullets, as the mouth unleashed a beam. Frisk and Chara avoid the beam, but Chara was torn to shreds by the bullets, losing his arms, legs and having his guts spill across the floor. Frisk watched the scene in horror, before being ripped to shreds as well by a mass of vines. Flowey gave a deep long laugh, before reloading back to the beginning. 

“Don’t worry! It’ll only hurt the first _MILLION TIMES!!!”_

The two dodged the pellets, barely made it through the vines, and avoided the laser beam while trying to avoid the mess of razor bullets. Two flamethrowers appeared from nowhere and nearly cooked the two alive. Chara threw several knives at the monstrous flower, but they barely made a scratch. The lower eyes began shooting out bullets as well, as more vines tried to rip the two to shreds, with flamethrowers trying to cook them alive. The screen flashed with the orange SOUL, and the lower left and right circles made from the tubes glowed in unison. The grotesque monstrosity disappeared, and in it’s place, was a very rightfully frightened Cass.

“Cass!” The two cried out.

She looked at Frisk and Chara, and smiled widely. “Guys, you’re here!! That means you can save them!!”

“What's going on?!” Chara asked, worried.

“Flowey’s manipulating the others. I don’t know why he isn’t able to force me to try and fight, but i’m not going to question it!” Cass summoned multiple, bandaid shaped healing bullets, and sent them to the two. “Please, help the others! They can’t stay like this!”

Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance, and a nod. They turned back to Cass, faces full of confidence. “We’ll try!”

“Thank you. I’ll try my best to make sure his attacks don’t hurt as much!” Cass teared up and smiled at the two, before the world went to static, and in her place was Alex, nearly obscured by particles, and his SOUL still missing it’s piece, whereas Cass’ was whole again.

“Alex!” Chara called out, but he didn’t respond.

“What’s the point? What is Bravery, but recklessness? Why try to fool yourself into thinking you're brave, when in reality you're a coward?!” Alex threw a few punches, in which the two dodged. “No one really believes in you, unless they get something from it. Nobody cares when it’s over. People care to a limit, but when you show your weakness when fighting for your life, YOU FIGHT ALONE!!!” Alex threw a few more punches, before Chara caught one of the strikes.

“Alex, stop! This isn’t you fighting! Flowey is controlling you!! You can snap out of this, I know you can!!” Alex’s only visible eye went wide.

“No one’s ever believed in me...Not even my dad...He always said I was reckless.” Alex was starting to return to normal. “But...I’m not reckless. I’m a kid. I do what kids do best…” Alex’s SOUL shook, before the missing piece returned and his SOUL turned blue. He looked up at Frisk and Chara, and smiled. “I do kid stuff! I’m sorry about that...But, if you got me out of it,” Alex unleashed a wave of thumbs up healing bullets. “Then I believe that you can save the rest.” Alex smiled, before disappearing in the static. The two were back at Flowey, who immediately began to attack with vines. The two tried to dodge them, but kept getting hit. The vines stopped, and a barrage of missiles descended upon them. They looked up to try and dodge them, but the fiery aftermath caught them both, and they burnt to ash. Flowey laughed once again, before returning them back.

“I can feel the human SOULS wriggling inside me...They’re screaming out in pain just like you!!”

Flowey unleashed the bombs once again, and Frisk tried to attack Flowey, but there was still hardly any effect. One of the clawed hands grew a flytrap, and several large flies flew straight into it. That attack...Wasn’t as threatening as they thought, but they got too distracted by the mediocre attempt, and were ripped apart by vines, guts spilling everywhere. Flowey laughed again and brought them back. Frisk didn’t have the ability to keep her lunch in.

“You two are so amusing, even though YOU’RE LOSING!!!”

The two dodged the flies, making sure not to get too distracted, so they could watch out for the vines. More flies flew into the left claw, as more missiles descended to the two. The screen flashed again, with the blue and purple SOUL. Static filled the area and Alyssa appeared before the two, looking very apathetic. “No one cares...Why should we? The world is ending, so why should anyone feel anything?” Alyssa launched at the two, trying to hit them as she danced a dance of death. “You don’t need to fight, nor do you need to cry or pry, you just need to di-” Frisk grabbed the fallen SOUL from behind.

“There’s plenty of reasons to care! You need to stay strong for your friends, for your family!! Just because things seem bleak, doesn’t mean we can’t persevere!!”

Alyssa started to tear up. “But it’s easier to feel nothing. I died alone and afraid, because my family decided to split apart. I’m doing this for your...No...No this isn’t right.” Alyssa’s SOUL started to heal and change to purple. “I felt like this before, but I got through it. I felt sad, but when I do,” Alyssa went to normal, and smiled at the sight of the two. “I like to sing to feel better. I’m sorry, so sorry, but I can make it up to you!” Alyssa started to hum a melody, making musical note healing bullets descend on the two. The world went static, and the two faced Sam, who seemed in even worse condition than the other two.

“The world’s gone to hell. A book doesn’t need to tell you that. Just two, lying parents are enough to make it show.” Sam opened their book, and words of fear, depression, anxiety and sorrow flew at the two. ”My dreams were crushed by them. So I won’t make this easier for you two either. I’ll crush your dreams too.” Frisk ran up to Sam and gave them a hug, with Chara doing the same shortly afterwards. 

“You don’t have to be like them! Just because you were shown violence, doesn’t mean you can’t show the opposite!!”

“You can be different from them! No one has to follow a guideline!!”

Sam began to sob. “But why? Why does it feel so…” Sam’s SOUL began to heal and turn green. “I really am an idiot...I stopped seeing the point after everything that happened, when I should’ve faced my sorrows head on.” Sam sniffed and hugged the two back. “I always wanted to be a writer when I grew up. Maybe one of you could keep that dream going?”

“Of course!” Frisk replied. Sam’s book began to summon healing words, before the two were once again in the gross face of Flowey. He sent out vines, but the two felt as though something took a picture. They dodged more vines, and barely made it through the razor bullets, before the world shifted, and they were impaled by vines, that just appeared Flowey laughed yet again and brought them back. 

“Your pain will never stop being FUNNY!!!”

They dodged the vines and bullets again, fully aware that Flowey can just bring them back to the previous attack whenever he damn well pleased. The upper eyes unleashed a grassy worm, which bounced all around. The new attack charged at Chara, both devouring and crushing him. Frisk screamed Chara’s name, before her entire left side was torn apart by finger guns. Yes, actual finger guns. Hands were attached to a stem, and would shoot off their fingers. This whole fight was just an acid trip. Flowey brought them back, but went straight back into the action. The two were running out of stamina, and it showed, as they kept getting blown to bits by the finger guns or smashed into a fine paste by the grass worms. Eventually, the screen flashed, and the green SOUL appeared on it. The world went to static, and they were staring down at Luke, who was crying. “I wanted to help them. But look where it got me! What good does kindness do, if it’s met with HATE!!” Luke swiped his frying pan, which hurled grease made fire balls. The two dodged the flames, and Chara grabbed Luke’s hand, and looked him in the eye.

“Yes, kindness will be met with hate, but the fact that you tried to do the right thing regardless was a noble feat! You can’t let the bad get to you, even when trying to do good!”

“Good…” Luke muttered. “I wanted to do good. The monsters were suffering, and I wanted to help them.” Luke’s SOUL healed and turned yellow. “I wanted to make things right, by helping fix the mistake humanity caused. My gesture was kind and noble. That’s all that matters. I’m sorry.” Luke flipped his frying pan and egg like healing bullets rained down. “Maybe when this is over, we can all share a meal together!” The two faced Flowey once more. They were starting to get a hang of his attacks. He sent wave after wave of bullets, followed by the vines, which were the hardest to dodge. He sent out pellets and flamethrowers, before ending his attack spree with the flies. The screen flashed for the yellow SOUL, which was missing the most of itself. They came face to face with Clover, who looked the most stable, except for their red eyes.

“Level of Violence. I know it well. After all, I killed again and again.” Clover shot at the two. “You go left, and I’ll fire. Go right, and I’ll fire. There’s no end! No joy! It’s all the same! There is no choice!! There was never a choice that mattered!! I fell for that trap, and you’re falling for it too!!” Clover shot and shot, never running out of bullets. Frisk tackled them to the floor, and threw the gun away.

“You did have a choice!! It always mattered!! Flowey’s the one who made you think that it didn’t!”

“Then let me do the job! I can kill him easily!! He DESERVES IT!!! AFTER ALL HE DID!!!”

“Clover…” Chara muttered. “There’s no point in thinking about revenge. It just consumes you, until you begin to crumble. Just look what happened to Asgore! He swore revenge, but it killed him inside!! Do you really think that’s worth it?”

Clover stopped struggling and went limp. “I envy you two.” Frisk let go of them, and Clover sat up. “The worst part is, I could stop it all, and save you. But I tried that already, and I didn’t save anyone! I couldn’t save those who already died.” Clover’s SOUL healed, and went cyan. “But…Maybe it was meant to be. Fate is funny like that. I thought I’d be lucky, but I wasn’t. Maybe the one’s who needed that luck, were you two…” Clover stood up, and the other fallen children appeared as well. The circled the two, and gave words of encouragement.

“Even if things seem bleak, just close your eyes, and sing a melody to drown out your fears.” Alyssa advised.

“Keep your hope high! Then we can taste out victory!!” Luke advised.

“Never be idle! Always strive to move forward!” Cass advised, tears falling down her face as she smiled.

“Don’t stop dreaming for a moment! You promised me after all!” Sam advised.

“I believe in you, like you did for me! Don’t give up, fight with all your determination!!” Alex advised.

“You have all the luck in the world!! After all, you made it to your goal, in the end!!” Clover advised.

Chara and Frisk smiled, and all of them gathered around for a group hug. The children disappeared and the two were once again faced with Flowey, filled with _**HOPEFUL DETERMINATION**_.


	41. Finale

Frisk and Chara stared Flowey down, as he sent out bullets at them, unfortunately for him, they were slowed down quite a bit. The two could dodge them more easily this time, and went for the offensive. Chara’s eyes flashed blue, and then orange, orange. Flowey’s state was always moving, but when he landed a few hits during Flowey’s little rampage, he would freeze up, even if the attack barely did anything. Chara swiped at Flowey with the blue attack, which damaged him due to his constant movement, and then immediately swiped with both of the orange attacks while he was stunned still, causing even more damage.

“What? How did that…?” Flowey was confused by the amount of damage he took, but quickly retaliated with vines. Frisk would slash at them when they landed on the ground, which caused Flowey some pain. “How are you retaliating?!” Flowey unleashed the missiles, which caused some damage, but a green bandaid shaped bullet floated to the two and they touched it, getting their injuries healed. “That shouldn’t-AARRRGGGHHH!!” Flowey unleashed the flamethrowers, which were dodged. Chara and Frisk gathered more healing bullets, as Chara would throw a ring of knives at Flowey’s screen. Flowey was getting more and more pissed.

Each attack that hit the humans, a green bullet would appear and heal them. How was this happening? He didn’t have the time to contemplate, as with each few seconds of no attacks, the humans would strike. Hell, they struck even when he WAS attacking! Where’d all this retaliation come from? Whatever they did, it was taking away all the fun! Flowey should be obliterating them!! Not a constant back and forth!!! Flowey kept sending attack after attack, but then Chara got more gutsy, by pulling more advanced tricks.

Chara would summon walls of knives when Flowey would send out the vines, giving Frisk an opportunity to strike where she pleased. He’d summon rows of fire when Flowey tried to use the flies or the finger guns. With every hit they took, they got healed, and with every heal, they decided to get more risky, and would use different combos of attacks. Chara demonstrated this even further, when he used the combined power of blue and orange attacks while Frisk swung with her sword. They were done playing Games. They went all out, as Chara summoned walls of knives, and rows of fire, swiping with blue attacks, and then orange and then both while Frisk would strike wherever she damn well pleased! It didn’t matter if it was the arms or if she had to jump to slash the screen, they were done with Flowey. Chara summoned a sword sized knife, and the two made one final attack, stabbing their blades into Flowey’s screen as he began to scream and writhe in pain.

The world began to shake after the final blow, as Flowey began to fall apart. “No...NO!!! This CAN’T be happening!” Frisk and Chara looked proud. “You...YOU…” The world shifted. Frisk and Chara looked over themselves, and found that there wasn’t a single scratch on them. Or on Flowey. They looked up at his screen, seeing the weed’s smug face. “You IDIOTS.” Before either of them could respond, Flowey unleashed a laser beam, which burned their flesh off and disintegrated them in an instant, only for him to reload, and tear them apart with his vines, leaving bits and pieces of intestines or parts of their arms. He did both of those attacks, again and again and again. Over and over and over, laughing like a mania-oh wait, he is a maniac...Well either way, he kept laughing as he killed them over and over, until one last vine attack left them near death, with their clothes thoroughly bloodied and ripped, with Frisk’s new glasses being obliterated over all. They collapsed to the floor, gasping for breath. A ring of pellets surrounded them. Flowey laughed at the sight. “Did you really THINK...You could defeat ME!? I am the GOD of this world! And YOU TWO? You’re hopeless. Hopeless, and alone.” Flowey’s voice went to normal. “Golly, that’s right! Your worthless friends, can’t save you now. Call for help. I dare you. CRY into the darkness! “Mommy! Daddy! Somebody help!”, see what good it does you!”

Frisk and Chara propped themselves up on their arms, and leaned into each other. Chara looked up at Flowey. _“Guys...Please...He’s too strong...Please….Help….”_ He coughed up some blood. A few seconds passed by, which cause Flowey to smirk.

“But nobody came…” Flowey chuckled. “Boy! What a shame! Nobody else, IS GONNA GET TO WATCH YOU DIE!!!!!” Flowey howled in laughter, as the two braced themselves for the pellets to collide with them. But when they did, the damage was healed. Flowey looked perplexed. “What? How’d you…?” He growled. “Well, I’ll just-” The LOAD failed. Flowey was even more shocked. “Wh-Where are my powers?”

“Right beside you.” Clover’s voice rang out. The SOULS of the fallen children revealed themselves, as they all looked at Flowey in disgust.

“The SOULS…?! What are you doing?!”

“What we should’ve done from the start of all this…” Luke replied. The SOULS began to circle around Flowey, as parts of his new form began to sustain damage.

“NO!!! NO!!!!! YOU CAN’T DO THAT!!!” The SOULS didn’t listen. “YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO OBEY ME!! STOP!!! STOP IT!!!” Parts of him began to burst into flames and fall apart. “STOOOOOOOOPPPPPP!!!!!” An explosion rang out and the room was enveloped in a white light.

* * *

Frisk and Chara woke up, and saw the room around them was littered with parts of Flowey’s previous form. Speaking of Flowey, he was right there in front of them. Facing downwards, wilting. A flash of anger overcame Frisk, and she was about to march over to him, and tear him in half, but Chara stopped her.

“It’s not worth it.” He muttered.

“What?”

Flowey overheard, and looked up. “What are you doing? Do you really think I’ve learned anything from this? No….” Flowey looked back down.

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not going to kill you. And I won’t let Frisk do it either.”

“But…”

“Sparing me won’t change anything. Killing me, is the only way to end this.” Flowey looked up at them slightly, waiting for the strike.

“That’s what’d you do. We’re not you. We made a promise to each other to be better than you…” Chara’s words cut deep, and Frisk went wide eyed.

“If you let me live, I’ll come back!” Flowey made a smug grin. Frisk looked at Chara, and solemnly sat down beside him. “I’ll kill you!”

“Go ahead.” Chara muttered, leaning into Frisk. “Killing you won’t bring him back, so why bother?”

“I’ll kill everyone!!” Frisk held Chara’s hand. “I’ll kill everyone you love!!”

“It doesn’t matter. We already failed, but that doesn’t mean we’ll sacrifice our morals.” Frisk muttered. “We’re not going to kill you…” Flowey looked shocked.

“So go ahead.” Chara added. Flowey looked confused. “If that’s what you repay our kindness with, then so be it.”

Flowey looked angry. “Why?” Neither of them responded. “Why are you being…” Flowey began to look sad. “So nice to me?”

“Because we’re different from you!” Frisk replied.

“I can’t understand…” Flowey looked even more sad.

“It doesn’t matter if you can’t. We’re just trying to-”

“I CAN’T understand!” Flowey was on the verge of tears.

“Maybe if tried to be kinder you cou-”

“I JUST CAn’t _understand…”_ Flowey burrowed beneath the earth. Chara and Frisk looked at where he once was, eyes widened. Frisk looked behind them. Even with her glasses broken, she could tell that the remains of the monstrosity were blocking the way back. 

“Looks like we can’t go back.” Frisk muttered. Chara stood up, and wiped his eyes.

“I don’t want to. Not after we…” Tears ran down Chara’s face. Frisk stood up, and pulled him into a hug. “We failed….” Frisk didn’t respond. She just nodded sadly. Chara took a breath, and wrapped his arms around Frisk. “We failed…”

“I know…” Frisk muttered. “But we tried….”

Chara sniffled. “Yeah…” He looked out to the exit. To the surface. “They won’t hurt you. I’ll make sure of it…”

It was Frisk’s turn to start crying. “Please…” The two stood there, embracing, and preparing for what awaited them on the surface. Frisk wiped her eyes, and took a strained breath. “I think...I might know someone, who’d keep us away from them. Who’d let us stay with them…”

Chara broke the hug, and looked Frisk in the eye. “Who?”

* * *

Rose lazily filled in the missing piece of the puzzle. She sighed and planted her head on the table. She tried to help Frisk, but somehow, it got worse. Kris ended up dying, then Frisk disappeared. The only good thing to come out of this is that their mom was arrested, and their dad skipped town. She sighed. Her family put up missing posters for Frisk, but as the days went by, the more she started to piece together what happened to Frisk. _Those who climb the mountain, never return…_ She forced her eyes shut, and tried not to think about it anymore. They were gone. Frisk and her brother were gone, all because she tried to help. She looked up at her little sister, who was watching the door with laser focus.

“What are you doing, you goofball?” She tried to muster up any leftover joy, but it just sounded tired.

Violet turned towards Rose, only to look back at the door. “Waiting for Frisk…” 

“Violet, she’s gone." Rose lowered her head again. "She’s not coming back…” 

“Yes she is. My friend told me so.” Violet replied, still looking at the door.

“Your imaginary friend?” Rose sounded annoyed.

“He’s not imaginary!" Violet cried out. "He’s real, and he said Frisk would come back today!”

Rose stood up from the table and walked over to her sister. “Look, I know you loved Frisk like she was another sister, but she’s gone!” Rose’s voice had anger to it. “She’s not coming back, no matter what dreams you’ve had about it!”

“They’re not dreams!!” Violet protested. Before Rose could respond, the doorbell rang. Violet was about to get up from the couch, but Rose kept her from getting up.

“It’s just a solicitor.”

“No, it’s Frisk!! My friend told me so!!” Another ring.

“Violet, there is a big, BIG, difference between real and imaginary!!” Another ring. “WE’RE NOT BUYING!!” Rose shouted.

“If you don’t believe me, then go see for yourself!!!” Violet challenged.

“Listen Violet-” An annoyed knock came from the door. Rose stood up and walked over to it in a fit of rage. “I TOLD YOU!!!” She opened the door with so much force, that it slammed into the wall. “WE’RE NOT BUYING!!!” She froze. Frisk looked at her in shock, and a kid she’s never seen looked bored. She looked over her friend, who was wearing a torn up purple sweater and ripped dark grey jeans. The other kid wasn't looking any better, but they did smirk.

“Ah, that’s too bad! I thought anyone would be in the market for two kids looking for shelter.” Frisk gently elbowed the other kid afterwards. Rose just stared at the two, while Violet came running to see them.

“I told you so!!" Violet declared proudly. "I should put money on it!!!” Frisk giggled at Violet's energy.

“Never change, Violet!” Frisk looked at Rose, who was beginning to tear up. “Like Chara said...We kinda...Need a place to stay…” She sighed. “Would it be okay, if-” Rose interrupted Frisk by giving her an unprompted hug. Tears were rolling down her face.

“YOU SCARED ME YOU BIG DUMMY!!!” She shouted. Frisk flinched slightly, but accepted the hug.

“I scared myself…” She muttered. Rose broke off the hug and looked Frisk in the eyes, hands clutching to her shoulders. 

“WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!! WE PUT UP MISSING POSTERS, CALLED THE POLICE….” Rose began sobbing. _“Where’d you go…?”_

Frisk looked to Chara, who sighed. “That’s...A long story…”

_“I’ve got the time…”_ Rose muttered, before eyeing Chara suspiciously. “Who is this, anyway?”

“This is Chara. He's part of the story.” Frisk replied. “Can we stay…?”

“Of course!! I’d be a bit of a bitch to not let you stay!!!” Rose pulled Frisk into another hug. “Now what happened?”

Frisk sighed. “Well…”


	42. Living with DETERMINATION

Frisk opened her eyes, and saw nothing but void. She panicked and tried to call out for Chara, but no words escaped her mouth. She looked around, but saw nothing. She was alone. No one was with her. Her mind began to race, as she swirled around, looking for the damn flower. She didn’t see Flowey, but she saw Undyne, Papyrus, Alphys, Mettaton, Sans, all the people who believed the two could convince Asgore to stop. They all talked at once, and it was too much to bear. She could hear Undyne spouting curses at her for getting Asgore killed, Papyrus breaking out into tears at the two leaving, Mettaton and Alphys spouting about how Mettaton shouldn’t have held back, and how Alphys really should have sent Mettaton’s human eradication form at them. Sans was just there, looking tired, and disappointed. She curled up and covered her ears, trying to block out the sounds, as a deep, sickening laugh filled the void. She looked up and saw Flowey hovering above them all, as vines tore her friends to shreds, before they disintegrated into dust.

“Golly, that’s right!” Flowey winked. “They don’t like you!! You broke your promises after all!!” Flowey laughed as vines erupted from the ground, and curled in to face Frisk. She tried to scream for help. To get Chara and the other SOULS to save her.

But Nobody ca-

* * *

“FRISK!!!” Chara shook Frisk awake, panic filling his eyes. “Frisk it’s ok!! We’re safe!!! It’s over…”

Frisk looked at Chara, who had already dressed up for the day, with plain black boots and t-shirt, khakis, a green vest, black fingerless gloves and bandages that covered the scars on his arms. He was resting his hands on Frisk’s shoulders, and had looked like he was about to tear up. Frisk took in a few uneven breaths, before she started to get her bearings. “What just…?”

“You were having a nightmare.” Chara explained. “A bad one, from the looks of it.” Chara pointed to the nightstand, and walls, which were now adorned with several slashes that could only come from a sword. Frisk looked around the room sheepishly.

“I’m sorry…” She muttered. Chara pulled her into a hug, but she just leaned into him.

_“It’s okay now...It’s over….”_ Chara’s voice choked a bit. The two were getting sick and tired of the constant nightmares, but at the same time, it was all they had to prove that their experiences were real. 

They had told Rose and Violet most of their story, leaving out the parts about their deaths, Cass and the others, and REFUSING to detail just how they escaped, only saying that Golden Flowers named Flowey are scum and simply gave the explanation that Chara was another person who tried to ‘disappear’ at the mountain and that the two had fallen down together. Violet believed them immediately, but Rose was skeptical. Still when her parents found Frisk and Chara, they let them stay. Chara was in the guest room, while Frisk was bunking with Rose, but they would always end up in the same room come morning. One evening of Frisk violently waking up from a nightmare, slashing at the walls with a red spectral sword was enough evidence that what they told the family was true, and another instance of Chara screaming bloody murder and turning the nearby wall into a pin cushion, and having Frisk be the one to calm him down was enough for the family to decide to keep them together, making it so that they shared the guest room.

Frisk looked at the clock, and saw that it was 10:19 AM. “I should get ready. We have a lot of walking to do today.” Chara nodded and stood up from the bed.

“I’ll be downstairs.” Chara waved Frisk off, and she got up from the bed, and decided to get ready for the day. She picked up her new pair of glasses from the nightstand, which somehow survived her assault, and walked into the bathroom. She looked at her tangled mess of hair, and began wondering if she should get a haircut. Both Frisk’s and Chara’s had gotten longer in the month and a half they spent back on the surface, with Chara’s almost covering his right eye, causing him to tie it back a bit and Frisk’s was almost past her shoulders. She might have to talk with him on when to schedule that. 

She ran a comb through her hair, brushed her teeth, and picked out her outfit for the day. A standard white t-shirt beneath a sky blue jacket, khakis with light brown boots lined with fur, and the small Delta Rune scarf around her neck, which was the only thing from her underground outfit that somehow survived Flowey’s onslaught. She looked at herself in the mirror and adjusted her glasses. She preferred the ones Alphys had given her. This new pair just seemed too lackluster, and she was quite fond of the square frames rather than these round ones, but beggars can’t be choosers. She stretched in the middle of the room, and walked downstairs.

Rose was stirring something in a pot while Chara and Violet were making small doodles. Chara was pretty good at drawing, despite having only used crayons and colored pencils most of the time, while Violet was still at the kid’s drawings stage. Neither of them could compete with Frisk however, as there were multiple occasions where she had made photorealistic drawings of the monsters underground, purely by memory. Violet was impressed by the monsters, while Chara was impressed by Frisk’s art skills. Still, it was a fun pastime for them, and it helped keep Frisk and Chara busy. Frisk walked up to the table and sat beside Chara, while Rose looked back at them. “Are you good? That last one sounded pretty bad.” 

“I’m fine.” Frisk shrugged it off. “I’m getting used to them by this point.”

Rose looked downtrodden, before focusing on whatever it was she was stirring. “You only have one more week before the school decides you had enough of mental health days.” Frisk shrugged while Chara growled. “I’m not a huge fan of the notion anymore than you are, but it’s mandatory.”

“We’ll be fine, Chara…” Frisk muttered. Chara just huffed and went back to drawing.

“So what’s your plan for today again?” Rose asked.

“We’re going to stop by the flower shop and get something for his grave, and then just, relax I guess.” Frisk replied.

Rose turned off the heat to the stove and quickly pulled out four mugs. She poured the contents of the pot into each mug, and then set them down at the table. Frisk recognized the contents as hot chocolate, and quickly gave a small sip. Chara picked his up and instantly drank almost half of it in one gulp. Rose looked at Chara in shock. _“That just barely got done from being made…”_

“He drinks tea scalding hot, so hot chocolate wouldn’t be that much of a problem.” Frisk commented with a shrug. “Plus he’s a chocolate addict.”

“I prefer ‘Chocolate Connoisseur!’” Chara replied jokingly, causing Frisk and Violet to giggle. Rose rolled her eyes and took a small sip of her mug. 

“Well, the flower shop opens at 11:00, and it’s 10:39, so you might need to hurry anyway if you want to get there early.” Rose advised.

“We’re in no rush.” Frisk muttered.

“You should, since it’s only open for a couple more weeks before the snow kicks in, so people are going to be crowding it.”

“That’s a good point.” Chara muttered.

“We’ll get there in time.” Frisk said to Chara. “So don’t worry about it.”

* * *

Undyne looked over the notes, for what must’ve been the third time in a row, scratching off the failed attempts and adding new possible theories. The biggest written one was the one Frisk had mentioned. Seven LIVING humans. It seemed the most likely, but the rate at which humans fall underground was not a good one. So there were many other theories and methods, all of which quite literally exploded in her face. She growled. She only had a basic understanding of all this science junk unlike Sans and Alphys, who both had PhD’s. Sans was no help as usual however, but at least that meant she got to spend time with Alphys. Speaking of Alphys, Undyne looked to where she was currently fixing one of the legs for Napstablook’s new body. they had really taken a shine to it, since the moment they fused with it, their personality did a near 180.

Yeah, they were still a little depressive, but they channeled more of that side into pouring their artificial heart out into making music mixes and new soundtracks for Mettaton’s shows, which gave them a real added zing that was missing, even when Mettaton had Frisk and Chara as guests, but now they were a little more outgoing, and were even willing to teach some music classes at Toriel’s new school. Undyne gave a sigh at the sight and turned back to the notes. Most were Alphys’ as shown by the little Undyne doodles in the margins, some were Undyne’s which were scarce and hardly had good results, but there was one that always stuck out to her.

One piece of information left by the old Royal Scientist, who Chara had called ‘Gaster’ was the scientist's notes on how to make an artificial SOUL. Not like the ones Mettaton and Napstablook had, which were more like energy cores than SOULS, but actual living SOULS. The notes only listed the theoreticals, and didn’t explain how to make one, but something about kept getting Undyne curious. Was it possible to create a SOUL just as powerful as a human one? Alphys and her had discussions about it, and even brought it up to Sans, and all the three of them could conclude, was that it was just a theory. Undyne wanted to test it, but Alphys was still reluctant to show her the lower lab. Oh well, she could wait. After all, it feels like waiting is all they’ll have to do now.

* * *

Frisk and Chara walked up to the shop, which for the most part, seemed calm on the outside, until they looked inside the windows, and saw that it packed. Chara stiffened up at the sight. He did better with monsters, than he did with humans. Frisk gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, which told him that he could wait outside if he wanted to. Chara nodded and waited by a nearby telephone pole, as Frisk went inside.

Inside was a large array of flowers, but none of them seemed even remotely on par with the level of care she had seen with the Golden Flowers Asgore had kept around. Still, she needed some. She walked up to an employee and tapped his shoulder. “Yes?” The employee turned around and looked at Frisk. His neutral tone took on a more somber one. “Oh, hi Frisk. Visiting the grave, finally?”

Frisk nodded. “Any flowers that seem appropriate?”

“Well…” The employee hummed. “I’m not so sure, but between you and me, any kind of flower would be a kind gesture when it comes to visiting a lost one.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Frisk nodded solemnly.

“Let me see what I can get.” The employee walked off, and Frisk waited in place. She glanced back out the window to Chara, who was staring out into the sky. He hadn’t been harassed for the bandages yet, which was good. Still, she wanted to get this done fast. The sooner she leaves, the better it is for Chara’s sake. The employee came back with a small bouquet and Frisk walked up to the counter to pay. She walked outside the store, and Chara instantly walked up to her.

“Thank god. I was starting to get stared at.” Chara muttered.

“Well you lived, and you didn’t get bothered by anyone, so that’s a plus.” Frisk replied.

“I guess.” Chara gave a patient smile. “Shall we head off?”

“Of course!” The two began their trek to the cemetery, which was a good distance away from the shop. Frisk’s eyes would wander around, looking at the sights she wasn’t able to experience before, and everything felt new. She glanced at Chara, who was just staring ahead, and decided to strike up conversation. “So, is there anyone you know, that you’d like to visit while we’re there?”

“There is, but he never told me her name.” Chara sighed.

“Oh…” Frisk looked downtrodden.

“It’s fine. I gave up trying to find out ages ago…” 

“Still, I shouldn’t have-”

“Don’t beat yourself up!” Chara interrupted. “You were just concerned. I understand!” He smiled. Frisk gave a smile of her own, and took hold of Chara’s hand. The two walked in silence the rest of the way.

* * *

“NOW LET’S SEE...DID I MISS ONE?” Papyrus looked out the rows of flowers. Watering flowers was something he didn’t really think the Royal Guard would end up doing, but a job is a job! “DOESN’T SEEM LIKE IT...WELL, I GUESS THAT MEANS I’VE DONE MY DEED FOR NOW!!” Papyrus set down the watering can. “I WONDER IF THERE’S ANY PUZZLES I MISSED IN SNOWDIN…” When Toriel returned and re-took her role as queen, she made it so that puzzles had to be safer and less ‘spike filled’. Papyrus was upset at first about the loss of his spikes, but it was probably for the best. Anyone who falls down might get the wrong impression, and Toriel is trying her hardest to make sure the underground gives off a welcoming atmosphere. Papyrus walked away from the flowers, but turned around when he thought he heard something.

“FLOWEY?” Papyrus muttered. No response. Papyrus sighed and left the room. Asgore somehow ended up dead, and the human SOULS all but disappeared. No one decided to question it, but Papyrus kept thinking back to his little confrontation with Flowey that one day. At first, it just seemed like Flowey was trying to rattle his bones, but after what happened, Papyrus pieced things together and quickly. He didn’t say anything to anyone else except Sans, and the two went on high alert for the flower. Papyrus was deep in thought, when he passed by Toriel. “GREETINGS YOUR MAJESTY!”

“‘Toriel’ will do just fine Papyrus.” She replied.

“RIGHT. SORRY…” Papyrus was about to continue off, but Toriel stopped him

“You know, we don’t need to worry about confrontations anymore, so you don’t really need the battle body…” Toriel gestured to Papyrus’ new attire, which was his Battle Body mk2. He kept the boots and scarf the same, but the torso had a more armored appearance, with the shoulders resembling pauldrons. His gloves were upgraded from mittens to actually having his fingers more prominent, and they reached up to his elbows. The lower half was covered with full length pants. Any parts that previously exposed bone, were now covered in cloth, with the elbows and knees having cloth padding. The overall design of this new body was to not only give off the look of a royal guardsmen, it was also designed to be more practical, and as such gave off a more defensive look than his previous one. The color pallet remained the same however.

“I KNOW, BUT FRISK AND CHARA HELPED DESIGN AND MAKE IT SO IT FEELS WRONG TO NOT PUT IT TO USE, YOU KNOW?”

Toriel’s expression seemed to get more somber at the mention of the humans. “I suppose that makes sense, but I still wouldn’t recommend wearing it every day.” 

“OF COURSE!! I’LL KEEP THAT IN MIND!!” Papyrus gave a slight bow, and continued down his way. The moment he was out of sight, his stance slumped a bit. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the note. It was meant for Sans, but since he didn’t feel the need to actually keep an eye on it, the contents became Papyrus’ burden. _“I WONDER WHEN IT’LL HAPPEN...OR HOW MUCH OF THIS I’LL BRIEFLY REMEMBER…”_ Papyrus sighed and pocketed the note and continued on his way, unaware of the beaten up flower watching him from behind, tilting it’s head.

* * *

Chara looked around the site. The cemetery was a place he never really was comfortable with as a kid, now it just seemed lonely. Trapped in the ground. Unlike the monsters however, those buried here can be dug up. They can be free. He followed Frisk from behind, since the path was too narrow for two people side by side. He’d have to wait until they start walking on the grass to be at her side. That seemed to come sooner than he thought, as Frisk began crossing over the other buried in a straight line. Chara walked to her side, and the two kept to a straight line, to Kris’ grave.

Frisk knelt down at the sight, leaving the flowers below the headstone. She gave a sad smile. “Hey. Sorry it took so long. I just...Needed time to get the courage, y’know?” Chara sat down besides Frisk, who then lowered her other knee to it’s counterpart. She looked at the grave somberly. “So, you probably know about what I’ve been through. After all, you were the one telling me to stay determined every time I died…” Frisk scratched her arm. “But I’d still like you to meet Chara!” She gestured to Chara, who was sitting patiently. “We’ve been through a lot together...We’re partners, we’re…” Frisk blushed, and Chara smiled. “Well, we’d like to keep it that way.” Frisk stood up. “I’ll leave you guys to it. I’m sure you have more to say than I do, at the moment.” 

“You don’t want to listen to our conversation?” Chara asked.

“I think it’s best if you guys have it alone.” Frisk gave a patient smile. “The field of Golden Flowers is nearby. When you’re done, I’d like to go there.”

Chara sighed. “That sounds nice. I haven’t seen those in awhile.”

Frisk giggled. “Well, I’ll leave you two alone.” Frisk walked over to a nearby tree, and leaned against it, looking to the sky. Chara turned his attention to the grave, and took a deep breath.

“I’m not so sure where to begin…” Chara rubbed the back of his head. “But I guess the first thing I should say is...I understand.” Chara lowered his head. “I was in a bad spot too. I always held hope that’d it get better, but you two...You were determined to not let it get to you. I guess that’s why Frisk crumbled when…” Chara sighed, and then gave a small smile. “She’s pretty great, you know? She stuck by my side, when anyone else would’ve parted ways after or during Waterfall…” Chara looked up to the sky. “I wish I had known you guys years ago. Maybe if we all were on the surface or if you two both fell to the underground while me and Asriel were...Well, it’d been nicer. For all of us, I’m sure.” Chara rubbed the bandages on his arm, and took a breath. “There’s been something on my mind. The other SOULS had visible scars, from giving up their pieces to save me. A red SOUL, like mine, came in at the last minute, and fully healed my SOUL. At first, I thought it was Frisk, what with the red line connecting across our SOULS, but…” Chara rested his hands onto the grass. “Something tells me, that if she was the one to give up that piece, then her SOUL would bear the same missing piece like the others…” Chara looked at the grave and smiled. “That was you, wasn’t it? You were the one to offer a piece of your SOUL, and save me, weren’t you?” Wind blew leaves to Chara’s position. He lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, if it was, then thank you, but...Cass would’ve mentioned you. They all knew each other's names, and if someone new showed up, they’d ask, but…” Chara rubbed his chin and then sighed. “I guess there’s no use theorizing now, huh…? Either way, even if it wasn’t you...I just want to say thanks. Even if you weren’t the one to offer a piece of your SOUL, you still knew Frisk. She helped me see a lot of things, and I can only imagine that she got them from you…” Chara smiled. “So...Thank you, Kris...For everything, whether you helped directly or indirectly, thank you.” 

Chara was about to stand up, but the sound of heavy boots heading in his direction kept him from doing so. He glanced at the approaching figure, which looked to be an old homeless man, with a wide scar across his eye and chest, which was visible thanks to his shirt being so old the collar of it drooped down insanely low. The one thing that felt off about the man was his hat, which gave Chara bad memories, but this man looked drastically different. The man stopped when he saw Chara. “You a friend of his?” He pointed to the grave.

Chara kept his eyes focused on the headstone. “Yeah. I was out of town when it happened.”

The man sighed, and kept his distance. “Such a shame. Another kid whose life ended prematurely due to shitty parents. It seemed this place has a habit of that.” The man gave a strained chuckle.

“How many kids ended up like that?”

“Too many, but...I only figured that from how some disappeared to the mountain.” The man replied.

“Where the monsters are?” Chara asked. He was curious, but wary of the man. Something about him was familiar. Too familiar.

“Yep…” The man looked at the mountain and took a deep breath. “I saw it...The one that reignited the stories of monsters.”

Chara wanted to leave. He didn’t want to hear about how he and Asriel had painted the monsters in a negative light, but he needed to hear it. From a different perspective. “What happened?”

The man scratched his head. “It’s complicated, and not really a pleasant story, so-”

“What. Happened?” Chara asked firmly. The man seemed to recall something, before staring at the mountain again.

“My son...Was one of the kids who went to the mountain.” Chara froze, but the man didn’t notice. “It’s my fault. He ran off, after giving me a well deserved...Statement.” The man rubbed the scarred eye. “And he just vanished. At first, I didn’t care-”

_Thought as much you bastard…_ Chara thought.

“But...As the days went on, I began thinking. About all the shit I put him through. I tried to ignore it, but one day, three years later, I saw it. The monster.” The man sighed. “They were, carrying a body, but with only one eye, it was hard to judge who the body was. All I knew is that people were chasing after the damn thing, saying it killed the kid it was holding. So I grabbed my rifle and joined the mob.” Chara clenched his fists, but kept up a poker face. “Eventually it just stopped and looked at us. It seemed conflicted from what I could tell, but nobody else was saying anything about. In fact, I don’t think anyone else paid attention, so we all just fired on it. The monster recoiled from the pain, but just, walked away. Right back to the mountain.” Chara kept his eyes locked onto the headstone. “A family that had seen the monster up close, gave a statement to the police, about how it didn’t do anything, and that the kid in it’s arms didn’t have any wounds. But then they described the kid, and I recognized the description. It was my son…”

“What did you do?” Chara asked, choking back any hate he had.

“Well, the police were the ones to come to me. Apparently they investigated, and kids from the school also recognized the description and gave them his name.” The man explained casually.

“What was his name?”

The man sighed. “His name was Chara. Something his mom wanted to call him, and that was the last thing I did right. After that, everything went south.” The man scratched his chest. “Anyway, the police wanted to ask me a few things about him, and why he would end up at the mountain...I thought about lying...But...I couldn’t. For whatever reason, I told them everything. You can imagine how that went, saying that a kid who died had dealt with an abusive home life, leading them to climb a mountain to disappear. I got out a few months ago, and just lived on the streets. Then I heard the news about that kid.” The man pointed to the grave. “And I saw missing posters for another kid, described as the kid’s sister.” The man sighed. “I come here every now and then, to see how the kids doing. And to tell him that he wasn’t the only one who had that kind of situation…”

“Did you...Treat it as a way to apologize to your son?” Chara asked sincerely, and started to release the tension in his shoulders.

“In a way.” The man replied. “But I know for a fact that my son wouldn’t forgive me. If he was alive right now, he’d probably be somewhere out there in the world, living with a happy family, and keeping them far, FAR away from me…”

Chara stood up, but still faced the grave. “Y’know, my family wasn’t all that great either. Me and my brother made a mistake, and our parents divorced, and my dad died…” He sighed. “I hated humanity.”

“Understandable.” The man replied.

“They’re selfish, cruel, greedy, and heartless...But, something I learned, is that they can also be kind, caring, empathetic, compassionate, and loving.” Chara sighed. “I let a few bad apples dictate how I viewed all of them. I let one bad experience, control my entire view of them.” Chara looked over to where Frisk was, as she was still leaning against the tree, looking up at the sky. “Not anymore. The days I was gone, I met someone who really showed me the good that humanity can bring. The side that I never experienced.” The man looked at Chara like he was crazy, and Chara looked at the man, causing his one good eye to widen. “I let **_YOU_ **control my life, even when I was far away from you…”

The man was speechless. He just looked at Chara with a wide eye, and open mouth. “I wanted to destroy humanity, simply because of **_YOU._ ** _”_ Chara turned away, and looked at the grave.”But that wouldn’t solve anything. Killing you or all of humanity, wasn’t going to magically fix my issues. I see that now…” Chara looked back at the man, taking enjoyment in his shocked expression. “So, for the sake of everyone else…” Chara took a deep breath, and turned to walk away. “I forgive you...Don’t talk to me again.” Chara walked away, holding up a middle finger as he left the man to his shock.

Chara joined Frisk at the tree, and she looked at Chara. “You must’ve had a lot to say.” She didn’t know about the other conversation. Chara shrugged.

“I had some things I wanted to get off my chest, and Kris seemed like the best person to vent to.”

“Well, I’m glad you talked to someone about it.” Frisk walked away from the tree and grabbed Chara’s hand. “Shall we go look at flowers?”

“That sounds lovely!”

* * *

Violet laid on the couch, dozing heavily. Rose gathered all of the drawings on the table and began to move them to Violet’s room. Chara and Frisk were kind enough to give their drawings to Violet, so they wouldn’t mind anyway. Rose walked upstairs and opened the door to Violet’s room, which was covered wall to wall with taped up drawings. Most of which were standard kid drawings of unicorns or discolored animals, while others were the kind of stuff one would see if they looked up creepy kids drawings on the internet. They all had the same figure anyway, which made it all the more creepier. Rose didn’t pay much attention to the drawings on the walls, and just set the ones in her arms on Violet’s bed. She looked over some of them. The one’s Chara made were intermediate level depictions of Golden Flowers, or of a young kid, presumably himself, surrounded by a family of anthropomorphic goat monsters. Frisk's drawings were drawings of the monsters the two said they’d encountered underground. One was of a flame monster, called ‘Grillby’, which just seemed kinda impossible. Another was called ‘Alphys’, and depicted a nervous looking lizard monster holding an anime case. “Ok then…” Rose chuckled.

Two that standed out were two skeletal monsters, named ‘Sans’ and ‘Papyrus’ drawn on the same piece of paper, captioned with ‘not so spooky, hardly scary, skeletons’. Rose gave a full laugh on that one. One drawing was of an armless raptor looking monster titled ‘MK’, that had a full sketch of the monster in almost perfect realism, with a small, cartoony sketch of it tripping, landing on it’s face, and then standing up looking like nothing had happened. Then...They got disturbing. A sketch of a front facing, wide eyed, expressionless creature, one of a slumped, grey thing, and another of one monster, looking at a rock with a face on it. All of these drawings had something written on them. The monster looking at the rock, was titled ‘I’m holding a piece of him right here.’, the slumped monster with ‘It’s rude to talk about someone who’s listening.’ and the expressionless one saying ‘Will Alphys end up the same way?’. Rose flipped the drawings over, and decided to take them away, not wanting to disturb Violet with them.

_“Why would Frisk…?”_ Rose found herself staring at some of the drawings on the wall. The creepy ones. They were all labelled with the same title. ‘Me and my friend, Dr. W.D. Gaster’ some of them had what looked like a goopy mess, with a white egg like head, with a scar merging with the mouth, and another with a scar creeping up the head. Others just had a mess of grey crayon scribbled onto it, but one drawing caught her attention. It was labelled. ‘Gaster’s friends!’ She focused on all the figures. One looked to be green, with big eyes, smiling, another was a blue and yellow creature, that seemed similar to the grey one Frisk drew, one looked like a clam-like monster and another looked like the MK drawing Frisk made, but paler, and the final ‘friend’ looked like a weird cat like thing, with a hollow void for a face, with it’s mouth seemingly hovering over it. Directly in the middle, was another version of ‘Gaster’ wearing a white lab coat, and having one blue eye, and one purple eye, with it's head drawn to resemble a skull. Rose shifted slightly, and all the eyes seemed to follow her. A chill ran down her spine, and the room felt like it was getting darker.

_Fuck that shit…_ Rose left the room in a panic and entered her parents room, and went to the paper shredder. She inserted the drawings Frisk made into it, but the machine jammed when turned on. _God damnit!!!_ Rose facepalmed and tried to get her thoughts together.

☼︎✌︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎ ☼︎🕆︎👎︎☜︎📪︎ 👎︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎😐︎ ☼︎⚐︎💧︎☜︎✍︎

She jumped and looked around, but couldn’t find the owner of the voice. _I’m going crazy...I have to be…_

☠︎⚐︎📪︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ 🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎💧︎❄︎✌︎☠︎👎︎✌︎👌︎☹︎☜︎📬︎

She covered her ears and swiftly ran to her room’s bathroom, and turned on the sink. She tried splashing water on herself, thinking that, maybe, just maybe, this was some obscure nightmare. That after a while, she’d wake up, and find herself asleep on the kitchen table, with Frisk taking a picture of the sight for fun. It didn’t work. _“This isn’t real...It’s just a nightmare…”_ The bathroom light’s flickered, and the room got dark, darker, yet darker. Rose froze in place when she looked in the mirror, to see the thing Violet had drawn many times over, standing just behind her, but something looked...Off. It’s mouth had a few sharp points, and it had another crack going into the mouth, with one visible white dot in one eye socket. They seemed to be...Glitching...Leaking ooze upwards...

✋︎ 👎︎⚐︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☜︎☠︎☺︎⚐︎✡︎☜︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎📪︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ ☞︎⚐︎☼︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎💣︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☝︎⚐︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 💣︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 💧︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ 🕆︎💧︎📬︎

The lights went back to normal, and the...Thing was gone. Rose fell backwards, and fell flat on her rear. She covered her face in her hands, and began hyperventilating. _“What the fuck…?”_

* * *

Frisk and Chara sat on a nearby bench, looking out into the sea of Golden Flowers. The air was cold, but after Snowdin, it didn’t bother them that much. Frisk leaned into Chara, who wrapped an arm around her, and closed her eyes. “It’s going to snow soon.” She muttered.

“Yeah.” Chara replied. “On the bright side, I won’t have to worry about reapplying the bandages.”

Frisk opened her eyes, and grabbed Chara’s hand. “I know you don’t like the scars, but...You don’t have to wear the bandages…”

Chara sighed and looked at his other arm. “I just...Nobody else should have to see them…”

“What about underground?" Frisk asked with a raised brow. "Everyone must’ve seen them at that point, what with Mettaton’s show and all…”

“I don’t care if they saw it. If I just said humans, they’d understand in a pinch. Here, I’d have to give my whole backstory because people wouldn’t dare leave it at ‘Oh, my dad was a bit of an ass’, you know?”

Frisk looked at the field of flowers sadly and sat up. _“I know…”_

Chara looked at Frisk somberly, and pulled her into a hug. They remained that way on the bench for a while, not speaking, but at the same time, saying just enough. Chara opened his mouth to say something, when-

_Ring...Ring…_

Chara reached into his pocket, and gasped. Frisk positioned herself to see the caller as well, and saw that Sans was trying to call them. Chara quickly answered.

_“heya. is anyone there?”_

“Sans!” The two said in unison.

_“well...i’ll just leave a message.”_ He couldn’t hear them. The two seemed downtrodden, but listened closely.. _“So...it’s been a while. toriel returned to her position as queen, and enstated a new policy…’all the humans who fall here will be treated not as enemies, but as friends.’. it’s probably for the best anyway...the human souls the king gathered...cass, seem to have disappeared. so, uh, that plan ain’t happening anytime soon.”_ The two lowered their heads. _“but even though people are heartbroken over the king, and things are looking grim for our freedom, tori’s trying her best not to let us give up hope.”_ Sans sighed. _“so, uh, hey...if we’re not giving up down here, don’t give up wherever you are, ok? who knows how long it’ll take, but we will get out of here. that’s a promise.”_ Chara smiled widely at the statement.

_“SANS!!! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO???”_

_“nobody.”_

_“WHAT!? NOBODY!? CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO???”_

_“sure, knock yourself out.”_ The sound of a phone being passed on could be heard.

_“WAIT A SECOND...I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER!!! CHARA, FRISK!!! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD!!”_ The two gasped in awe at the news. _“IT’S EVERYTHING I EVER DREAMED OF!! EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS. SO THAT’S EVER SO SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT.”_ The two shrugged. _“OH, AND WE’RE HELPING DR ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH! SHE’S GOING TO FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE! UNDYNE IS HELPING HER TOO, ALTHOUGH TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING SEEMS KIND OF...EXPLOSION-INDUCING. GLAD SHE’S NOT WORKING ON THE CORE…”_ Papyrus muttered, causing Frisk and Chara to giggle.

_“UH OH!”_

_“Hey! What are you up to, punks!”_

_“PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE PHONE!!”_

_“Hey! Who’s in charge here!?”_

_“ME.”_

_“Oh, yeah, that’s right!”_ Undyne chuckled. _“I quit my job as leader of the Royal Guard. Actually, since we won’t be fighting anymore, the guard totally disbanded. There’s, uh, only one member now.”_

_“BUT HE’S EXTREMELY GOOD!”_

_“Yeah, he is! C’mere!!!”_

_“PLEASE DON’T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!!”_

_“Anyways, now I’m working as Alphys’ lab assistant. We’re gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all!”_ The two smiled at the declaration. _“Oh, yeah, I’m also a gym teacher at Toriel’s new school! Did you know I can bench-press SEVEN children!? Awesome right?”_ The two could tell Undyne was trying to keep herself uplifted. _“Hey, I’m sorry about what happened with Asgore...You were just trying to do what you had to. It’s not your fault he…”_ Undyne sniffled. _“Ah, damn it. I miss the big guy…”_

 _“H-hey, Undyne, are you okay…?”_ Alphys’ voice called out.

 _“I’m fine. Why don’t you talk for a while?”_ The sound of the phone being passed to a concerned Alphys was heard.

_“Man, she’s tsundere.”_ The two chuckled. _“Um, h-hi...Sorry, I hate talking on the phone.”_ They could hear Alphys sigh. _“I don’t really know what to say.”_ A few seconds went by. _“Hey, why didn’t you tell me the queen was so cute?”_

“Listen here you little-” Chara stopped himself by chuckling, and Frisk joined in.

_“Mettaton’s doing OK! And so is Napstablook! You should see them in their new body, they're almost like a completely different person in it!”_ Alphys gave a nervous chuckle. _“A-anyway, I’m trying to figure a way for us to get out of here! B-but I kinda have no idea what I’m doing...I’ll figure it out eventually though. The queen is a lot different from Asgore. She actually checks to see if I’m doing anything.”_ The two laughed yet again. _“She’s really turned this whole place around!”_ A few seconds of silence.

_“Oh! Hey! Wait a minute! Toriel! Do you wanna talk to…?”_ A slight muffled rejection comes through. _“Well, she says she’s busy.”_

 _“Oh, she’s SAYS she’s busy.”_ Undyne snarked.

_“IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO…”_

_“we wouldn’t get the phone back for at least a few hours…”_

_“WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!!”_

_“B-but if you want to, call and talk to her any time.”_

_“Yeah! She’d be happy to hear from ya!”_

_“oh, whoops. this thing’s almost out of batteries.”_

_“WAIT, CAN I SAY A FEW FINAL THINGS?!”_

_“sure.”_ The sound of the phone being handed over, and the sound of footsteps make their way out.

_“LISTEN, SANS HAD THIS NOTE AND-”_

“Sans…” The two groaned.

_“WELL, IF WHAT WAS ON IT IS TRUE. THEN I HAVE A PROPOSITION FOR YOU TWO.”_ Papyrus paused. _“PEASE_ **_LOAD._ ** _”_ The two looked at the phone in shock. _“IF YOU DO, NOT ONLY WILL ASGORE COME BACK, HAVING NEVER BEEN KILLED BY FLOWEY, BUT...WELL...THERE’S SOMETHING ON THERE THAT SEEMED IMPORTANT. SOMETHING ABOUT THE LAB IN HOTLAND. ABOUT THE TRUE LAB…”_

“What is he saying…?” Chara muttered.

_“THE NOTE SAID TO EXPECT A SENSE OF DEJA VU, AND THEN CALL YOU DOWN TO IT. I KNOW IT WAS MEANT FOR SANS, AND THAT SCIENCE IS MORE HIS THING...BUT...I FEEL LIKE I NEED TO DO THIS IN HIS STEAD. SO PLEASE...COME BACK, SO WE CAN INVESTIGATE TOGETHER. THAT WAY YOU CAN ALSO SEE THE NEW BATTLE BODY!!!”_ Papyrus paused. _“LOOKING OUT FOR FLOWEY IS TOUGH, BUT IF WE CAN AVOID THAT...THEN IT’S THE BETTER OPTION. SO...PLEASE…”_ The call ended.

The two looked at the phone in awe, but quickly became confused. “But...didn’t Flowey…?” Chara muttered

“He said he did, so how could we-”

***A lie.**

The two found themselves back at the options. To LOAD, CONTINUE or RESET, but the third one was still blocked off. They looked at the options, stunned.

“So...We can really...Go back?” Frisk asked.

***Correct.**

“Does this mean Flowey tried, but failed to…?”

***Indeed. He tried, but even with six SOULS, his determination wasn’t enough to match Frisk’s. Or your hope, your majesty…**

The two exchanged a glance, and began to tear up. They could go back. They could fix this after all. They just needed to LOAD. “I guess, see you back underground Frisk.” Chara said.

“Same to you. Will the phone work near the barrier?” She asked.

***It’ll break up a few times, but it’ll work.**

Chara took in a deep breath. “Let’s go fix this.”

“Yeah.” They put their hands together, and hit the LOAD button.

* * *

Papyrus was sitting on the couch, waiting for the premier of Mettaton’s reappearance, when a sharp sense of Deja Vu washed over him. Deja...Vu…? Suddenly, he jumped up and walked outside. “papyrus?” Sans called out, but Papyrus didn’t answer. He quickly made his way to the Riverperson and asked to be taken to Hotland, as he pulled out his phone.

“HELLO? CHARA? I KNOW THIS MAY SEEM SUDDEN BUT, I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING IN HOTLAND...IT’S URGENT...I KNOW YOUR AT ASGORE RIGHT NOW, BUT I’M SURE HE’LL UNDERSTAND. PLEASE HURRY.” Papyrus hung up, and pulled out the note from his pocket.

“Tra la la. The ANGEL is coming.” The Riverperson said. Papyrus ignored them and kept gazing at the note

  
_I JUST HOPE THERE ARE CLUES IN THE TRUE LAB._ He thought. _THE DEJA VU WAS RIGHT, AND I SWEAR I WAS...WATERING A FLOWER...A FLOWER...I SHOULD KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR FLOWEY WHILE WE’RE THERE...SOMETHING TELLS ME...THAT HE’S UP TO SOMETHING…_ Papyrus sighed. _JUST WHAT IS SO IMPORTANT DOWN THERE?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all ever seen the Grimmstale version of Gaster? Dude's pretty creepy looking in that AU.


	43. Back

Chara and Frisk are back. They were back at the SAVE point near the door to the barrier. Chara made a sigh of relief, and Frisk peaked inside the room, seeing Asgore looking up at the barrier. They were back. They could fix this. They exchanged a glance, and nodded. Chara began to step towards the door, when his phone rang. Asgore looked back at them, and gave them the go ahead. Chara picked up the phone. “Hello?...Papyrus? S-slow down, you're breaking up a bit! Papyrus, we’re...Uh huh...Sure. See you there.” Chara put away the phone and sighed. “Sorry, but…”

“You need to go somewhere?” Asgore asked.

“It’s urgent. We’ll be back soon.” Chara rubbed his arm. “Is that…?”

Asgore raised his hands. “I’m not going to keep you here. If you need to help a friend, go help them.” Asgore gave a sad smile.

Chara gave a smile of his own. “Thanks…” He took Frisk by the hand, and the two made their way to the corridor, before Chara stopped. “That note…”

“Should’ve made Sans read it when we gave it to him.” Frisk muttered.

“But Papyrus read it, and he seemed to understand what to do, even after we LOADED…” Chara rubbed his chin in thought. “Looks like we’ll be heading back to Hotland.” 

“Seems like it.” Frisk nodded, before hovering her hand over her glasses. “I’m glad we’ve got this stuff back. I was really missing it on the surface.”

“Yeah.” Chara ran a hand through his hair. “I’m just glad my hair is shorter again.”

“I like it better this way!” Frisk commented. “It looks nicer.”

Chara chuckled. “Let’s not keep Papyrus waiting!”

* * *

Papyrus waited outside the door to the lab. He tapped his foot anxiously. _“PLEASE HURRY…”_ Papyrus whispered to himself. He took out the note once again, and gave it a third run through.

_-Sans_

_I know this letter may seem...Jarring, but please read it and consider what it was to say with full confidence._

_Here’s what’s going to happen. Chara and Frisk will get to Asgore, but something will happen to him. He’ll die, and the human SOULS will disappear, and Chara and Frisk will get to the surface._

_However…_

_They have an ability. They can SAVE their progress in the underground, and when they must, they can LOAD to that SAVE FILE. When the world is LOADED, a sense of Deja Vu will wash over you. It comes more strongly to some than to others, but you will notice. When you do have Deja Vu, or a sense that you were doing something different, go to the lab in Hotland. The True Lab. My lower lab…_

_Call the two down there as well, and the three of you will find the means of which the barrier will break, and...A means to ensure monsters won’t be feared by humans. Please do this for everyone. For Papyrus. For me._

_-Your father, GASTER_

Papyrus pocketed the note once more, and resumed to tap his feet. He looked around nervously, hoping Sans wouldn’t tell Undyne or Alphys about his odd mannerism. Papyrus needed to do this in his stead. Sans seemed stressed and nervous enough when he got home, and the note would’ve likely made it worse. _“WHATEVER IT WAS...I’M SURE I COULD BE JUST AS MUCH HELP...AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT…”_ Papyrus tried to cheer himself up. _"PLEASE HURRY."_

* * *

Frisk and Chara made their way to elevator R3, and went inside. Chara pressed the L1 option on the elevator, and the two felt the elevator kick into action. Frisk sighed. “I hope the SOULS didn’t get reverted back...They were really hurting…”

“If they did, we’ll just knock some sense into them again.” Chara gave a slight chuckle. "I just don't want them to feel robbed." Chara muttered. "Having been taken away from their peace in order for us to something with Papyrus.”

“I’m sure they understand.” Frisk looked up to the ceiling of the elevator. “Right...Cass?”

But no one responded. Frisk sighed and Chara pulled her close to him. The two stood in silence, even when they left the elevator. They followed the path and found Papyrus impatiently tapping his foot. He turned to the two and sighed in relief. “YOU MADE IT!! I WAS GETTING WORRIED FOR A BIT THERE..."

“You said Dad would understand…” Chara replied.

“I WAS MAINLY SAYING THAT TO MYSELF.” Papyrus cleared his throat. “NOW, ALPHYS IS WITH UNDYNE AT THE DUMP, BUT AS I SAID, IT’S PRETTY URGENT. AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT, WE’RE GOING TO HAVE TO DO THIS WITHOUT HER PERMISSION”

Chara and Frisk nodded. “I doubt she would’ve let us without a vocal boxing match though.” Frisk muttered.

“WHILE THAT WOULD BE THE CASE, IF I HAD SHOWN HER THE NOTE, SHE WOULD’VE CAVED IN.” Papyrus replied confidently.

“Well thankfully, even without her, we can get in easily.” Chara said. “I know where to go.”

“PERFECT!! LEAD THE WAY, CHARA!!” Papyrus pointed to the lab doors. Frisk raised a hand to stop them.

“Before we go, it looks like the new battle body is already doing wonders for you.” Frisk pointed to Papyrus’ person, admiring the replacement battle body the three worked on.

“NYEH HEH HEH!! IT ALREADY WORKS WONDERS!!! A FEW PEOPLE IN TOWN ASKED IF THEY LET ME IN THE GUARD!!”

“And did you tell them you did?” Chara asked. "Because that’s what I’d have done."

“NO, I TOLD THEM THE TRUTH." Papyrus tugged at his scarf nervously. "THE FEW THAT ASKED...LOOKED WORRIED WHEN THEY DID.”

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, but then just nodded. “Ah.”

“BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT, WE HAVE A QUEST TO EMBARK ON!!”

“Quest!” The two humans said in sync.

The trio entered the lab, and Chara led them to the door that had the lizard motif on it. Papyrus seemed skeptical of it. “ISN’T THIS HER BATHROOM?”

Chara pried open the door with a few spectral knives, revealing the inside. “Nope. It’s an elevator.”

Papyrus looked at Chara in awe. "WHEN WE'RE DONE, WE NEED TO DO SOME BATTLE TRAINING!! I'D LOVE TO SEE MORE OF THAT MAGIC!!" Papyrus' eyes widened. "WE COULD TEACH EACH OTHER NEW ATTACKS!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!!"

“Of course! That sounds fun!” Chara smiled. The three entered the elevator and Chara pushed a button. The three stood in silence as the elevator moved, until it suddenly stopped.

“THAT CAN’T BE GOOD.”

“No…” Frisk muttered.

“One of the cables must’ve-” Before Chara could finish, the three suddenly felt a quick jolt, almost being launched into the ceiling. Flashing red lights and robotic warnings filled the elevator as well as three screams of terror.

**_“Warning! Warning! Elevator losing power! EM tether stability lost! Altitude dropping!”_ **

The sound of a crashing elevator colliding with the floor filled the entire area. The trio were consumed in darkness, until the elevator doors opened with mechanical strain. Papyrus was the first to stand up. “MY SKULL…”

Frisk held up her interdimensional box. “Get your healing here.” She said, impersonating a free sample spokesperson, before going into a coughing fit. Papyrus took out a bicicle and gave the two pieces to the humans, as he indulged himself to a legendary hero. They slowly exited the elevator, to an eerie, dark room.

* * *

Alphys and Undyne were scouring out the dump. With Mettaton’s new body holding up well, and the schematics for Napstablook’s potential body all finished, she needed parts. Sure, she could ask the king, but most of Mettaton’s parts came from spare junk in the garbage, and it turned out pretty well. (Not that she’ll tell him about it.) And since Mettaton’s humanoid form is a success, she believes she could go straight into working on the humanoid form for Napstablook. Undyne picked out a few human clothing that was in one of the heaps. A vest and a hat. They were worn out, but Alphys could use them as guidelines. “So what’s the plan for Napsta’s form anyway?” Undyne asked.

“W-well, I’ve seen some p-posters of musicians from the surface. They seemed…W-well, I figured I could work off those.” Alphys replied. “Mettaton’s form was based off of some surface posters of their celebrities as well.”

Undyne hummed. “Yeah, that makes sense, but why search at the dump?”

“S-sometimes I find the best stuff here.” Alphys pushed up her glasses. “But it also helps m-me think.”

Undyne nodded, before tapping her foot in the water. “Something about this feels familiar.”

Alphys raised a brow, and pushed up her glasses. “Pardon?”

“Us looking for parts here. I could be mistaking it as when we first met, but…” Undyne sighed. “I just feel like we’ve done this before. This isn’t the first time I had a sense of Deja Vu either.”

“W-what do you mean?”

“When Chara and Frisk ran past me to Hotland, something felt off. And not in the ‘Hey this is a battle, don’t be a coward!’ kind of off. I expected them to fight. Like them fighting felt would’ve been more natural…” Undyne shook her head and continued digging through the trash. “Ah, nevermind. I was pretty out of it that day anyway.”

Alphys stared at the water, and rubbed her chin. Now that she thought about it, when she was making her notes that day, it felt like she did them before. Like she did them many times over. It wouldn’t be the first time either, but… “Now that you mention it...I’ve had days like that before too. Even before Chara and Frisk. Where it felt like I did the exact same thing.”

Undyne paused. “Weird...I think it happened before them for me too.” The two exchanged a glance. “That’s not normal, is it?” Alphys shrugged.

_Ring...Ring…_

Alphys picked up her phone. “H-hello?”

_“Have you seen papyrus?”_ Sans asked.

“W-wasn’t he wi-with you?”

_“he was, but he just...ran out of the house. didn’t even stop when i called for him.”_ Sans paused. _“something about the way he looked...i figured he must’ve remembered something and went to undyne.”_

Alphys thought for a moment. “He didn’t stop by, but...Hey Sans?”

_“yeah?”_

“Have you e-ever had a sense of...Deja Vu? L-like you’re doing something, only to have it feel so incredibly familiar?” Sans didn’t respond for a while.

_“...yeah. happened before chara and frisk left the ruins...and honestly, it happened in waterfall a couple of times too. the second time i just thought it was because i was tired, so i fell asleep.”_

Alphys scratched her head. “I...I need to check something. At the lab…” Alphys paused. “I want you and Undyne to come with me.”

“Why?” Undyne asked.

“B-because...It’ll make more sense if you two saw it…” Alphys sighed. “My biggest regret…”


	44. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-1

**ENTRY NUMBER 1: This is it...Time to do what the king asked me to do. I will create the power to free us all. I will unleash the power of the SOUL.**

“Power of the SOUL?” Chara muttered.

“Like magic?” Frisk asked.

“I’D ASSUME SO. ALL SOULS HAVE SOME FORM OF MAGIC, SO IT WOULD MAKE SENSE TO UTILIZE THAT MAGIC.” Papyrus explained. “THOUGH, SOMETHING ABOUT THIS FEELS...ODD.”

“You said it.” Chara replied. The three walked over to the corresponding terminal.

**ENTRY NUMBER 2: The barrier is locked by SOUL power...Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially. SOUL power can only be derived from what was once living. So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now...The SOULS of monsters.**

“Monsters?” Frisk asked.

“Wouldn’t the human SOULS be a better substitute?” Chara rubbed his chin.

“THAT SEEMS MORE LIKELY, BUT I THINK THIS WAS MADE...BEFORE WE GOT THE SOULS…” 

“Before…?” Frisk muttered.

"THAT'S JUST A GUESS ON MY PART..." Papyrus quickly stated.

**ENTRY NUMBER 3: But extracting a SOUL from a living monster would require incredible power. Besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the SOUL’s host, and unlike persistent SOULS of humans, the SOULS of most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster SOUL last.**

“If only…” chara muttered. The three all hummed in thought, and the next terminal flicked on as they passed.

**ENTRY NUMBER 5: I’ve done it. Using the blueprints, I’ve extracted it from the human SOULS. I believe this is what gives their SOULS the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living...The resolve to change fate. Let’s call this power “DETERMINATION”.**

“Determination…” Frisk muttered. “The will to keep living.”

“The resolve to change fate…” Chara finished. “Papyrus, what did that note say exactly?”

“I NEVER MENTIONED A…” Papyrus paused and pulled it out. “IT SAID SOMETHING ABOUT YOU GUYS BEING ABLE TO...SAVE YOUR PROGRESS….TO RELOAD IT…”

Chara took a breath. “DETERMINATION. It let’s us do so…”

“HOW CAN YOU BE SURE?”

“Because…” Frisk rubbed her arm. “The will to keep on living...Papyrus…” Papyrus tilted his head and Frisk sighed. “Let’s...Find a place to sit down first…”

“OK...THAT SOUNDS BEST.”

Chara kept staring at the terminal. “Why is this listed as entry number 5…?”

“THEY MUST BE SCATTERED OUT OF ORDER...LIKE A PUZZLE. FOR SOME, FINDING THE LATER PIECES IS BETTER THAN THE EARLY PIECES, AS THE PICTURE BECOMES SLIGHTLY MORE CLEAR WHEN GOING BACKWARDS.” Chara and Frisk nodded, and continued down the path. They walked down the long hallway before being faced with a door. It seemed locked. Papyrus took one glance at it. “IT’S COLOR CODED.” He pointed at the 4 circles in the middle. “WE NEED THE KEYS FOR EACH COLOR.”

“Of course.” Chara muttered. Frisk tugged at his sleeve, and pointed to a SAVE point. Even though Papyrus was with them, they felt that they needed to do it. They walked over to it, as Papyrus quirked a brow ridge at them.

**Frisk and Chara**

**FILE SAVED**

**Both LV 1**

“I ASSUME THAT YOU GUYS HOLDING OUT TO THE AIR, STARING OUT INTO SPACE WAS…”

They nodded. “We SAVED our progress.” Frisk said.

“It feels important to do so. Especially here.” Chara added.

Papyrus scratched his skull. “OK. WELL, IT SEEMS WE CAN GO EITHER LEFT OR RIGHT. WHICH WAY?” Chara pointed to the left side. They walked down the path, ignoring the vending machine and descended down the hallway, and up to another terminal.

**ENTRY NUMBER 6: Asgore asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had “fallen down.” Their bodies came in today. They’re still comatose...And soon, they’ll all turn into dust. But what happens if I inject DETERMINATION into them? If their SOULS persist after they perish then...Freedom might be closer than we thought.**

Papyrus looked at the terminal solemnly. “A TRAGIC FATE...TO BE FALLEN DOWN.”

“What does that mean?” Frisk asked.

“It’s similar to a coma for humans. Risks are the same, but at a greater extent for monsters.” Chara explained.

“I BELIEVE THE CANINE UNIT ALL HAD FAMILY MEMBERS WHO HAD FALLEN DOWN…” Papyrus sighed, and then rubbed his arm. “THEY NEVER DID SEE THEM AGAIN…” Frisk and Chara looked downtrodden. They continued down the hall, and saw what looked like a medical room. A terminal nearby turned on.

**ENTRY NUMBER 9: things aren’t going well. none of the bodies turned to dust, so I can’t get the SOULS. i told the families that i would give them the dust back for the funerals...people are starting to ask me what’s happening. What do i do?**

“This one has no proper capitalization in some parts.” Frisk observed. “It seems more desperate.”

“Seems like it…” Chara agreed. Papyrus went on ahead and found a row of sinks. He took off his gloves and waved the humans over to him.

“IT MIGHT BE BEST TO CLEAN OFF OUR HANDS. WE SHOULD STILL BE CONSIDERATE OF THE HEALTH CODE.” The humans joined him, and they each turned on a sink. Frisk and Chara were in the middle of washing their hands, when Papyrus turned on his sink, to reveal a white liquid coming out of it. The sink overflowed and the ooze began to form a lump. A smile formed on it, before it split apart into three, glitching figures. Everyone screamed at the sight of the glitching figures, with giant blobs for heads, with many twisting and distorted faces, and propping themselves up with a spine-like tail. Before they could process this all, their phones started ringing. Papyrus took out his, in which voices rang out without him answering.

“CoMe JoIn ThE fUn!”

“COME JOIN THE FUN!”

“cOmE jOiN tHe FuN!”

Papyrus froze for a second, before clearing his throat. “I-I SP-SPEAK FOR AL-ALL OF TH-THREE OF US WHEN I-I-I SAY N-NO TH-THANK YOU!” Two of the creatures expressed disappointment, with the third speaking something in a language none of them understood, before vanishing into thin air. Papyrus clutched his chest. “WELL...SAFE TO SAY THAT I MAY NEVER SLEEP AGAIN… _WELL, AT LEAST EVEN MORE THAN USUAL…”_

Chara walked up to the sink and picked up a red key. Frisk helped Papyrus up as Chara put the key on his keychain. “That was...I did not like that…” He muttered.

“What was that…?” Frisk asked.

Chara looked at the sink. “I don’t know…” He looked at Papyrus. “Are you having trouble sleeping?”

Papyrus held up his hands. “NOT TO WORRY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONING WITHOUT REST! WHY, I STOOD IN FRONT OF UNDYNE'S HOUSE THE ENTIRE NIGHT ONE TIME, AND I WAS PERFECTLY FINE!”

“You still need sleep.” Chara replied. Papyrus lowered his head. Frisk poked her head through a door and motioned the two to follow her in. There was a red switch on the wall. Chara put in the key, and it fit inside perfectly.

“AH, SO THE SWITCHES LEAD TO THE DOOR THEN.” Papyrus gathered. “LOOKS LIKE WE’LL NEED TO KEEP TRACK OF WHERE THE SWITCHES ARE, AND OF WHAT KEY THEY NEED.” The humans nodded and left the room. They reconvened at the door, which now had a glowing red light. Frisk and Chara made another SAVE, and Papyrus once again raised a brow ridge. “SO...HOW DO YOU SAVE YOUR PROGRESS ANYWAY? WHAT’S IT LIKE?”

“It’s like…” Chara gestured to the star only the humans could see. “Imagine a floating star right here. When you touch it, the world pauses, and it feels like something is being written down.”

“It’s like tracking your days down in a journal. Except if you feel like it, you could restart the day.” Frisk added. Papyrus nodded his head.

“SOUNDS LIKE AN INTRIGUING CONCEPT.”

“It is, but it’s not without it’s downsides.” Chara said,

“AND THOSE ARE?”

The humans exchanged a glance, and then nodded. “We can manually LOAD, and restart at the last SAVE, but we can also...Be forced to the last SAVE.” Chara said.

“HOW SO…?”

“When we die.” Frisk replied bluntly. Papyrus stared at them with wide eyes, his eye lights taking up most of the space inside his sockets. “It happened quite a bit in Waterfall. When we faced Undyne.”

“When we’re killed, we go back to the previous SAVE, like we can if we LOADED.” Chara added. “The process is...Unpleasant.”

Papyrus hummed in thought. “THAT...DIDN’T HAPPEN WITH ME...DID IT?”

“No” Chara replied. Papyrus sighed in relief.

“OH THANK GOD…” Papyrus rubbed his skull. “I’M GOOD AT KEEPING MY MAGIC IN CHECK, BUT THERE ARE SOME DAYS WHERE I WONDER IF...I MIGHT ACCIDENTLY GO TO FAR.”

“Have you?” Frisk asked.

“NO...WELL, ALMOST.” Papyrus took a breath. “ONE TIME, I WAS TRAINING WITH UNDYNE, AND SHE WANTED TO SEE MY 'SPECIAL ATTACK.'" Papyrus made a couple air quotes, which kinda confused Frisk, but not so much Chara. "SAYING HOW I MIGHT NEED TO RELY ON IT ONE DAY.”

“The blasters.” Chara mentioned.

“CORRECT. AND UNLIKE THE BONES, THEIR POWER EXERTION CAN BE...DIFFICULT TO KEEP IN CHECK…” Papyrus cleared his throat. “LONG STORY SHORT, THAT WAS THE SECOND TIME SHE LOST HER HOUSE…” The two humans looked at each other.

“And you never wondered why she didn’t let you in the guard after that?” Chara asked.

“WELL, SHE SAID THAT, IF I EVER HAD TO USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK TO FEND OFF A HUMAN, IT MIGHT DESTROY THE TOWN...SO I’VE BEEN TRYING TO WORK ON THAT." Papyrus scratched the back of his skull nervously. "A LITTLE WHILE LATER, SHE STARTED THE COOKING LESSONS.”

Chara folded his arms. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s the best cooking teacher.”

“NORMALLY I’D DISAGREE, BUT YOU HAVE A POINT." Papyrus chuckled a bit. "TORIEL’S BEEN TEACHING ME LATELY, AND I HAVEN’T BURNED DOWN THE KITCHEN AT ALL DURING HER LESSONS!!”

“That’s good!” Frisk said. “By the way, what all do you know how to cook?”

Papyrus puffed out his chest. “WELL, I AM WELL VERSED IN THE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF PASTA, FROM SPAGHETTI TO RIGATONI, AND I DO ENJOY MAKING A GOOD SANDWICH ONCE IN A WHILE. OH AND WHEN I’M USUALLY FEELING DOWN, I MAKE MYSELF SOME OF MY FAVORITE FOOD, OATMEAL WITH DINOSAUR EGGS!!” Papyrus scratched his chin. “ALTHOUGH, BEFORE I STARTED THE COOKING LESSONS, IT’D NEVER TURN OUT RIGHT...STILL GOOD THOUGH!”

“I thought spaghetti would be your favorite…” Chara jokingly replied.

“I’VE NEVER ACTUALLY EATEN IT." Papyrus admitted with a plain expression. "I USUALLY MAKE FOR OTHERS, THOUGH I DO WANT TO TRY IT.”

“You never taste your own food…!?” Frisk gasped. Papyrus sheepishly rubbed his skull. “That’s like cooking 101!”

Papyrus nervously rubbed his hands, before pointing to the right side of the door. “A-ANYWAY, LET’S CONTINUE ONWARDS!!” Papyrus got a head start, and the two humans shook their heads as they followed closely behind.


	45. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-2

**ENTRY NUMBER 12: nothing is happening. i don’t know what to do. i’ll just keep injecting everything with “determination.” i want this to work.**

“So...Judging by the timeframes we have so far, the monsters had gained at the very least, a few SOULS, but Asgore didn’t want to see another dead kid, so he wanted the Royal Scientist, who we’ll assume is Alphys, to try and find an alternate method to get the last SOUL. Alphys discovered what makes human SOULS last longer, calling it “DETERMINATION.” and she tried to see if a DETERMINED monster SOUL would persist. She was donated monsters who were on the verge of death, and gave them DETERMINATION, waiting for them to dust, but they never did. In a state of panic, she kept giving them DETERMINATION, and still held on hope that the experiment would end with the results previously expected.” Chara gave a rundown, which Papyrus nodded at while Frisk tapped her chin.

“But if DETERMINATION is the will to live, who’s to say it affects the SOUL directly?” Frisk asked. “Isn’t the will to live a given no matter what?”

Papyrus hummed in thought while Chara kept looking at the terminal. “So...Does that mean she was unknowingly saving them, when she was trying to get the opposite?” Everyone paused, before a chill settled in. “Let’s not pursue that line of thinking.”

“THAT’S PROBABLY BEST.”

They continued down the path, and glanced at the next terminal. Chara’s eyes widened. “Entry number 13: One of the bodies opened it’s eyes…” He read.

“Guess that answers that question.” Frisk said. Papyrus became increasingly uncomfortable.

“BUT...IF THEY LIVED, THEN WHY AREN'T THEY WALKING AROUND OUTSIDE THE LAB…?” Papyrus pondered.

Chara sighed. “Answered a question, caused another: Was it permanent?” They entered the next room, which was filled with beds. Lots of them two. Papyrus turned his head, and made a slight noise. Chara and Frisk looked and saw a lone dog bowl on the floor. A sense of unease filled the room even further. Chara looked at one of the beds, which was unmade. “It looks comfortable, but you’d have to be a maniac to sleep in an atmosphere like this…” The three wandered around the room, until Frisk and Chara saw another SAVE point. They quickly used it. Papyrus looked at a nearby terminal as they did so.

**ENTRY NUMBER 14: Everyone that had fallen down...has woken up. They’re all walking around, and talking like nothing is wrong. I thought they were goners…?**

“SO, ALPHYS FOUND A WAY TO BRING MONSTERS BACK FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH…” Papyrus rubbed his hands together. “SOMETHING LIKE THAT IS…”

“Remember, we don’t know for sure if the result was permanent.” Chara reminded. Papyrus nodded sadly. Frisk looked at the two doorways.

“Which one first?”

“LET’S DO THIS DOOR.” Papyrus gestured to the one adjacent from the terminal.

“Ok.” The three walked through the door, with the first thing to come across their sights being another terminal.

**ENTRY NUMBER 15: Seems like this research was a dead end. But at least we got a happy ending out of it…? I sent the SOULS and vessel back to Asgore. And I called all of the families and told them everyone’s alive. I’ll send everyone back tomorrow. :)**

“Wait...Vessel?” Chara muttered.

“Another question.” Frisk stated.

“WHAT WOULD A VESSEL BE NEEDED FOR?” Papyrus wondered.

“One way to find out is to find the rest of the entries.” The three of them continued down the path, looking at the very next entry, and they froze in place at the words.

**ENTRY NUMBER 16: no No NO NO NO NO NO**

“Something went wrong.” Frisk muttered.

“VERY WRONG…”

“This does not bode well…” Chara said. Continuing down the path, they entered a room, which was a long stretch of hallway leading to a shower curtain, with something behind it. Moving...Frisk carefully approached, and the movement got faster and faster, slowing her movements even more, until with a quick yank, she threw open the curtain, revealing nothing within.

“I hate that…” She said. “I hate that so much…” She glanced down and spotted a green key. She quickly attached it to her keychain and rejoined the others. The next room held something...Strange. Held up to the ceiling by a series of tubes, was some sort of mechanism. Frisk and Chara trembled at at the alien, yet vaguely familiar sight.

“IS SOMETHING WRONG?” Papyrus asked.

“Long story…” Chara muttered. He and Frisk moved to a SAVE point nearby, when Papyrus made a noise of intrigue.

“IS THAT WHAT A SAVE POINT LOOKS LIKE?”

The two quickly shot their heads back at him. “What?” They said.

“YOU SAID IT LOOKED LIKE A STAR SO…” Papyrus stopped. The two humans looked back at the SAVE point, and saw a smile on it. It quickly broke the façade, and morphed into a slimy mess. The head looked like a Moldsbygg, with an Aaron’s arms, and the way it was positioned looked like the body beneath Shyren.

**_“IT MIMICKED A SAVE POINT?!?!!?!?!?”_ ** Chara and Frisk screamed, as the monster(?) initiated a fight. Papyrus quickly took up arms and stood in front of the humans. The smell of sweet lemons filled the room as Papyrus swung his summoned rapier at it, only for it to pass through with no effect on the creature.

Papyrus blinked a few times, before he stared up at the creature in fear. _“OH THAT CAN’T BE GOOD…"_ A pair of eyes quickly made themselves known on the beast, and it screamed in Papyrus’ face.

“Welcome to my special hell.” Was echoed throughout the hallways, and the beast opened it’s mouth, and crushed Papyrus’ skull.

“PAPYRUS!!!” Frisk called out to the dissolving skeleton. She collapsed to the floor and sobbed, while Chara just looked on in fear, taking in everything he just witnessed. A monster, that mimicked a SAVE point, with a Moldsbygg head, Aaron’s arms, and the body formation of the monster with Shyren appeared from it, and attacking it did nothing, and it just killed Papyrus. Chara collapsed to the floor, as the monster opened it’s mouth again, and killed the two humans.

* * *

Frisk and Chara were back at the SAVE point, and they looked at Papyrus tearfully. He took notice of their stares. “WHAT HAPPENED? DID SOMETHING GO-” They launched at the skeleton and tackled him with hugs.

“Y-you j-just…” Frisk couldn’t speak.

“It happened so fast…” Chara said.

“WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED…?”

“You died!!” The two said. Papyrus froze. 

“And then we…” Frisk kept sobbing.

“We can’t…” Chara couldn’t form the right words. 

“LOOK, MAYBE WE SHOULD LIE DOWN FOR A BIT?” Papyrus suggested. “MAYBE IT WILL HELP CALM YOU DOWN ENOUGH, TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING CLEARLY.” The two humans nodded. Papyrus brought them over to the unmade bed, and laid them down on it. “NOW...TAKE ALL THE TIME YOU NEED…”

“Thank...you.” Frisk said in between sobs. The two humans huddled close together and closed their eyes. Papyrus stood at the foot of the bed, keeping an eye out for any danger. Suddenly, a tall, thin, white spoon like creature faded in. Papyrus’ eyes went wide, and he slowly, and quietly, summoned his rapier to his side, watching the thing outstretch a hand to the humans, only to suddenly pull the blanket up over them, and pat their heads before fading away. Papyrus let out a silent sigh of relief, and continued his lookout.

He kept his senses on high alert. Whatever caused them to freak out, or in the scenario the note and humans painted, LOAD their SAVE, had, according to the humans, ended Papyrus’ life. This whole SAVE and LOAD prospect sounded more and more scary as he thought about it. The humans could turn back time, whether of their own free will, or because of death. The more he thought about it, the more the power sounded like a nightmare to have, especially for children. So he kept his senses on high alert, ready to protect the humans from any danger, so that they could do what they came here to do, and get out. What they needed to do however, seemed more and more unclear.

* * *

Alphys and Undyne made it to the lab, where Sans was waiting by the door. Of course he got there before them. Him and his damned shortcuts. Undyne took another sip of the water she got from the cooler and the three of them quickly went inside. “so, you’re sure you want to show us the lower lab?” Sans leaning against the wall a bit.

“I-I have to. I n-need to confront my mistakes, and...I need someone to know…” A tear ran down Alphys’ face.

“Alphys…” Undyne muttered.

“Besides, the information down there, is the only information that could give a clue on all the moments of Deja Vu.” Alphys quickly added.

“Alright, how do we get to it?” Undyne asked.

“elevator.” Sans pointed to the door up ahead by Alphys conveyor belt stairs.

Undyne raised a brow and looked down at Alphys, while pointing towards the door. “I thought that was-”

“A way to make sure no one stepped in accidentally.” Alphys quickly stated. The three walked up to and Alphys opened the door, only to find a shaft. “Wh-what?!”

“Is this bad?” Undyne asked.

“Y-yes!!!” Alphys replied. “No one else should’ve been able to go down there!!!”

“and me.” Sans added. “i’ve been down there, so i know a shortcut.”

“When have you been down there?” Alphys asked, even more worried.

“used to work with the old royal scientist...it uh...didn’t turn out well.” Sans rubbed the back of his head. Alphys calmed down slightly, but was still freaking out.

“N-no one should see them yet…” Alphys muttered.

“See who?” Undyne asked. Alphys took a breath.

“The monsters down there. The fallen…” Undyne’s eye widened and Sans’ eye sockets went fully dark.

“Fallen?” They asked.

Alphys sighed. “Let me explain, and then we’ll take a shortcut.”

The two nodded.

* * *

“SO ATTACKING THEM IS FUTILE…” Papyrus echoed. Frisk and Chara nodded sadly. “BUT SINCE WE DIDN’T KNOW THAT AT FIRST, I TRIED AND...AND THEN I DIED...” 

“Yeah…” Frisk said.

“AND THEN YOU LOADED?” 

The two avoided his gaze. “We got scared.” Frisk replied. “We just…”

“We died too.” Chara said. Papyrus rubbed his face and looked at the two humans.

“AND THEN WE WENT BACK HERE…” The two nodded. “I SEE…” Papyrus looked out to the beds, and sighed. “I SUPPOSE OUR ONLY CHOICE WHEN WE SEE THEM IS TO FLEE?”

“That’s the thing.” Chara said. “It was blocking the way forward. We need to get past it...but…” Papyrus hummed.

“THEN...CAN WE TRY TO PACIFY IT? MAKE IT NOT WANT TO FIGHT?”

Frisk looked up, and shrugged. “It would take a lot of trial and error.”

“All we know for sure is what it looked like.” Chara said. “It’s head was a Moldsbygg, and it had arms like an Aaron, and the body looked like the one that Shyren always has near her.” Papyrus hummed again.

“WELL...IF THAT’S THE CASE...THEN WHAT PACIFIED THEM USING THOSE MONSTERS PACIFICATION METHODS?”

“What?” Chara asked.

“YOU KNOW HOW MONSTERS WILL STOP FIGHITNG IF YOU ACT A CERTAIN WAY?” Papyrus asked. "WHAT IF WE TRY SOMETHING LIKE THAT?"

Frisk hummed. “Moldsbygg, liked to be left alone, Aaron would want to flex and we just sang with Shyren. They all seemed content with leaving us alone after we did those.”

Chara’s eyes widened. “Are you saying-”

“MAYBE, SINCE IT HAS THEIR FEATURES, IT HAS THEIR LIKES AND DISLIKES. MEANING-”

“If we do all of those, it would leave us alone…” Frisk muttered. “That’s…”

“Our best bet.” Chara said. 

“SO...SHALL WE TRY IT?” Papyrus held out his hands, and the two took them. Frisk and Chara took the lead, retracing their steps and grabbing the key from the one room, and giving Papyrus the brief summary of the two terminals. They came face to face with the amalgamation, and stepped away from it. The amalgam’s teeth shook and Papyrus quickly flexed his arms. Without the cloth, it wouldn't have been as impressive looking, and the monster's body shook, Frisk took the opportunity to hum, and the monster had a look of remembrance.

“I’ve felt this before” Was echoed throughout the halls and the monster disappeared into the floor cracks. The three all let out breaths that they didn’t know they were holding and huddled together in a hug.

“IT WORKED!!!” Papyrus declared.

“It did..” Frisk muttered tearfully. “It worked…” The three broke it off, and Chara took a look at the terminal near the machine.

“DT EXTRACTION MACHINE.” He read. “Current status: Inactive. He looked at the machine. “So...It extracts DETERMINATION?”

Frisk and Papyrus shrugged. They walked into the next room, only to be hit with extreme fog. Papyrus scratched his skull and squinted, unable to see anything. “THAT’S BAD…”

“Now what?” Chara said.

“Maybe there’s a way to get rid of the fog.” Frisk suggested, before hugging herself. “It’s really cold here…”

“BEST NOT TO STAY TO LONG THEN.” Papyrus said. “LET’S FIND A WAY TO CLEAR THIS FOG.”

“Let’s stop by the SAVE first.” Chara said.

“OF COURSE.” The three backtracked to the room with the beds and the humans approached the real SAVE point.

**Frisk and Chara**

**FILE SAVED**

**Both LV 1**


	46. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-3

Papyrus looked at the switch on the wall. It was yellow, which they didn’t have. He walked away from it and looked at the piece of paper on the ground, with the only visible words being ‘under’ and ‘sheets’, a clue maybe. He glanced at Frisk who was looking at the TV, but not using it, and then at Chara, looking at the terminal

**ENTRY NUMBER 4: I’ve been researching humans to see if I can find any info about their SOULS. I ended up snooping around the castle, and found these weird tapes. I don’t feel like Asgore’s watched them...I don’t think he should…**

Chara sighed and looked at the tapes. _“I don’t think anyone should…”_

“WHAT ARE THEY?” Papyrus asked

“If memory serves me right, they’re tapes about life with Asriel. With me. Before we…” Chara sighed and turned to leave the room. “Watch them if you want, but...I’ll be outside.” Chara left. Frisk and Papyrus glanced at each other.

“I don’t want to…” Frisk said. “I get the picture he’s trying to paint…”

Papyrus looked at the tapes. “WOULD HE BE MAD IF…”

“I doubt it. I think he wants to let everyone know, but at the same time…” Frisk sighed. “I’m going to keep him company. If you want to, go ahead.” Frisk left the room. Papyrus looked at the tapes, sighed, and put the first one in.

_Psst. Gorey, wake up._

_Mmm? What is it dear?...Err, and why do you have that video camera?_

_Shush! I want to get your reaction. Gorey dearest, what is my favorite vegetable?_

Papyrus stared at the black screen in horror. _OH NO…_

_Hmmm…Carrots, right?_

_No no no! My FAVORITE vegetable is Eda-MOM-e...Get it?_

_I GET IT, I JUST DON’T LIKE IT…_ Papyrus thought. _WHY GO FOR THE CHEESY WAY OF TELLING PUNS? IT’S SO LAZY! ESPECIALLY IF YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING...SANS...._

_Go back to bed ,dear._

_No no!! Not yet! Now, if I were a dog, what breed would I be?_

_Hmm...I don’t know, honey. What kind of dog would you be?_

_I would be, A MOMERANIAN._

Papyrus audibly groaned. _“SO...LAZY…NO CLASS WHATSOEVER. NO CLEVERNESS TO IT.”_

_You sure are excited to have this child. You know, if you keep making jokes like this, one day you could be...A famous MOMedian._

Papyrus just grimaced. _“OOF...THAT ONE WAS JUST...OOF…”_

_Well, I’m going to bed._

_Hey! Come on, Tori! That one was funny!_

_Hahaha! I know, I am just teasing you._

_NO YOU WEREN’T_

_Goodnight dear._

_Goodnight, honey...Oh dear, perhaps it is too dark in here for the video to come out…_

_“YEP! I COULDN’T SEE HIS REACTIONS. GUESS I’LL FOREVER BE LEFT IN THE DARK.”_ Papyrus whispered, as he put in the second tape.

* * *

Chara stood in front of the giant machine. The ‘DT EXTRACTION MACHINE’ as it was titled. Frisk was nearby, but stayed an arms length away. She knows he needs some space, but will be there if needed. That was nice. She was thoughtful. Most people would be begging for details, but she kept quiet, waiting for Chara to speak up. Whether it was to say he needed more space, or if he truly wanted to talk. He smiled, and walked closer. 

“Weren’t interested?” He asked.

“I could already gather what they were. And what they’d mean for you…” She replied. Chara gave a slight chuckle.

“Az kept that camera with him everywhere. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were tapes of him walking around New Home.” Chara chuckled a bit more. He stopped when he noticed Frisk was looking down. Literally and figuratively. “Something wrong?” Frisk shook her head. Chara didn’t buy it. “Frisk…”

“I’m fine…Just...Thinking…”

Chara raised a brow. “Is it about the surface?” Frisk nodded, and Chara sighed. “You change your mind? About not wanting to go back?”

“Not really…” Frisk sighed. “I just wish...That everyone could go up there.”

Chara lowered his eyes. “Me too...But...I tried to free them. It didn’t work out so well…” Chara sighed. “But, maybe...Well…”

Frisk raised a brow. “What?”

“After exploring the underground with you, and remembering how cruel humanity could be thanks to some bad memories I had in my sleep, I started to wonder. Did humans trap monsters underground to protect other humans, or did humans trap monsters underground to keep them safe from humans?” Chara's question made Frisk wide eyed, before she hummed in thought.

“Maybe both. Not all of them could’ve been so vicious.”

“Maybe…”

“And...I wasn’t just talking about the monsters…” Frisk muttered. Chara raised a brow. “I also wish...That the other six could see the sun...One last time…”

“Oh…” Chara lowered his head.

“We saved them from Flowey, and healed their SOULS...But...How do we know that was a permanent arrangement? How do we know they’re back at square one? How do we know...If humanity would accept monsters on the surface, even after finding out about the other SOULS?” Frisk started to tear up.

Chara took a breath. “I think it's best if they didn’t, but humans are stubborn. They’ll find the truth eventually if monsters became free, and the other six were still dead.”

Frisk sniffled. “True...But I still want everyone to be able to get out of here…”

“I know.” Chara pulled Frisk into a hug. _“I know…”_ The two stayed like that for a while, even when Papyrus exited the smaller room, they stayed like that. Papyrus didn’t bother them and very quickly walked back to the room of beds. Frisk and Chara were slightly confused, only for Papyrus to come back holding a yellow key, and going back into the smaller room. He came out and gave a thumbs up. The two broke off the hug, and joined Papyrus. “So...Any opinions?” Chara asked. Papyrus looked downtrodden.

“YOU TRIED...IT MAY NOT HAVE WORKED OUT IN THE END, BUT YOU TRIED YOUR BEST...THAT’S ALL THAT MATTERS.”

“So you’re not mad at him?” Frisk asked.

“WELL, EVEN IF CHARA WASN’T HERE, I’D UNDERSTAND. IF I WAS UNDYNE...SHE’D BE A LITTLE CROSS I’M SURE…”

Chara shook his head. “No, I’m sure she’d understand too.” Papyrus smiled. “At any rate, we need to clear the fog in the next room before we proceed.”

“AH YES, I NOTICED SOMETHING ON MY WAY TO GET THE YELLOW KEY.” Papyrus pointed across the hall. “THE NEXT ROOM IS ALMOST AS FOGGY, BUT A LITTLE CLEARER. I THINK I SAW FANS OF SOME KIND.”

“That could work.” Frisk said.

“Let’s go.” The trio walked down the hall and into the other side of the hall. A terminal turned on, and thankfully, they could see it, even with the fog.

**ENTRY NUMBER 11: now that mettaton’s made it big, he never talks to me anymore...except to ask when i’m going to finish his body. but i’m afraid if i finish his body, he won’t need me anymore...then we’ll never be friends ever again...not to mention, every time i try to work on it, i just get really sweaty…**

“Well with the way she designed the body it’s no wonder why.” Frisk joked.

“BUT IT DID WORK OUT IN THE END FOR THEM, DID IT NOT?”

“Yeah.” Chara replied. “He acknowledged that during the viewer call ins...I doubt he’s going to treat that employee any better, but baby steps…”

“I wonder what Napstablook’s body is going to look like…” Frisk muttered.

“I guess we’ll just have to wait.” Chara replied. Down the path, was a switch on the wall. Frisk flipped it, and the fans on the wall blew away the fog. Everyone sighed in relief, until the specks in the air started to form together into a ball. It dropped to the floor with a splat. The three looked at the blob, as it writhed, and wormed it’s way up, forming itself into a dog shape. In between each leg, was the shadowy form of a dog. Frisk and Chara backed into the wall in shock and fear, while Papyrus looked at the amalgamate with wide eyes. He summoned a bone. “Papyrus, fighting won-”

Papyrus threw the bone “FETCH!!!” The amalgamate saw the bone and leapt towards it, catching it in it’s orifice. It brought the bone back to Papyrus, and the two repeated the process a few times before the amalgamate looked tired. It rested it’s body on Papyrus, liquifying during the process. Chara and Frisk approached the amalgamate, and they each gave it a few pets. It convulsed rapidly, seemingly enjoying the affection. All three petted the giant, amalgamated dog, before the shadow like dogs between the legs smiled contently. Chara and Frisk gave the dog tearful smiles, while Papyrus looked relieved, and upset. “THE PERKS OF WORKING WITH THE CANINE UNIT…” He pet the dog a bit more.

“I feel bad for it…” Frisk muttered. “What happened to them?”

“I think we’ll find out soon.” Chara said.

“I HOPE SO…” Papyrus looked at the amalgamate. “THIS FEELS WRONG. LOCKING THEM AWAY…”

“Maybe there was a good reason…” Frisk tapped her chin. 

“We won’t find out sitting here, petting the dog unfortunately.” Chara said.

“YES, I’M AFRAID IT’S TIME WE PART WAYS…” The dog looked upset, but it nodded. The amalgamate walked away like a spider towards back through the hallway. The three looked ahead, and stood up. “WELL, TIME TO CONTINUE FORWARD…”

“Yep…” The humans said in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not much happens in this one... :/


	47. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-4

**ENTRY NUMBER 19: the families keep calling me to ask when everyone is coming home. what am i supposed to say? i don’t even answer the phone anymore.**

Frisk felt her heart sink at the entry. People told their families are alive and well, only to have them never come back, due to something done out of good intentions. And then there was Alphys, who knew exactly why the patients couldn’t return home, but doesn’t want to speak about it, due to fear. She walked away from the terminal as Papyrus opened one of the fridges.

“EMPTY.” Papyrus muttered as he closed the fridge door.

“Not surprising. I doubt Alphys would store food down here, other than what was in that vending machine.” Chara commented.

Frisk opened up another fridge, and found a few sample tubes. She picked one up and looked it over. It was like a sample of the solar system was inside, due to the bright stars amongst the dark background. She looked at the sample more closely, and saw that the stars inside, looked like a SAVE point, with a faint, golden glow emanating from within. She set the sample back inside. “I guess some will have samples.”

“That makes sense.” Chara muttered.

“SAMPLES OF WHAT?”

“I don’t know.” Frisk replied, walking up to the next terminal.

**ENTRY NUMBER 20: asgore left me five messages today. four about everyone being angry, one about this cute teacup he found that looks like me. thanks asgore.**

_Shake….Rattle-Shake…._

Everyone turned at the noise, and saw one of the refrigerators moving. Jerking violently, as if someone was trying to break out. Everyone looked at the fridge with fear, slowly making their way past it. Papyrus never took his eyes off of it. Frisk walked over to the next terminal, trying to block out the fridge’s movements.

**ENTRY NUMBER 21: i spend all my time at the garbage dump now...it’s my element.**

“Alphys…” Frisk muttered, before jumping at the sound of Papyrus yanking the fridge door open. He froze.

“Papyrus?” Chara asked.

“THERE’S ABSOLUTELY NOTHING IN THIS FRIDGE…”

“What?” The two replied.

“THE FRIDGE WAS SHAKING, BUT NOTHING IS INSIDE OF IT TO DO THAT…” Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance, before looking inside the fridge themselves. Nothing. Nothing that could cause it to move. The three closed the door, and walked away, only to hear the fridge rattle and shake again. They ignored the other refrigerators, and moved forwards to the next doorway, when they heard the sound of something morphing behind them. Papyrus was the first to turn around, and gasp at the sight of the Amalgamate. “SN-SNOW...DRAKE….?”

The humans turned around, and gasped at the sight. The previous amalgamates had a more defined form. A form that held them intact. This one was hanging on by a thread. They could tell what it was, but...It was painful to look at. Everything else about it, was unrecognizable. Frisk began to sob, while Chara...Chara laughed. This place had gotten to him. The amalgamates, the entries, the tapes. All of them were getting to Chara, but this amalgamate...This monster, barely able to even move, broke him. He laughed, and laughed. Tears were running down his face...But nothing was funny.

“Chara…” Frisk muttered at the sight.

_“sn...o...wy…”_

Papyrus gawked at the amalgamate. “WHAT….WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?”

The two unrecognizable faces moved up and down, mimicking sadness, happiness and fear, while the full amalgamate tried to move forwards, and initiate a fight. But it couldn’t, so it stood still.

_“Sn...o”_

Papyrus kept staring, before clearing his throat, and closing his eyes. He opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to formulate a good sentence. He sighed and rubbed his skull. “I’M COLD OUT OF THINGS TO SAY…” The amalgamate laughed.

“WHat?!” The three muttered in unison.

_“I...rem...ember…”_

“It laughed…” Frisk muttered.

“AT…”

“The pun…” Chara finished. “Heh, if you wanted to hear a joke, you could’ve asked. It’s SNOW problem, after all.” Chara said calmly.

_“Haha...thank...you….”_

“IN MY OPINION, THAT WASN’T A VERY COOL PUN…”

“But it’s a good ICE-breaker.” Frisk said tearfully.

The amalgamate laughed, and looked at the three thankfully, before walking away. The trio all dropped to their knees. Papyrus let out a strained sigh, while Frisk and Chara began tearing up. They leaned into each other, and let out the waterworks. This place was a nightmare. A nightmare where everything looks dangerous, but in reality, are just broken. Everything here was once a separate monster. Everything they saw were individual beings, only to become disfigured, mutated, or barely clinging to life. All because of one good intention. One experiment, where they weren’t even expected to make it out from. Papyrus let the two humans be and stood up. He noticed a glint on the ground, and picked up a blue key. He put it in his pocket, and looked inside the doorway. A green switch was visible. “UM….I KNOW YOU’RE STILL...UNNERVED...AT THE MOMENT, BUT THE GREEN SWITCH IS IN THIS ROOM.”

Frisk took the key off of her keychain, and gave it to Papyrus. He accepted it with no hesitation, and inserted it into the switch. The two humans stood up as soon as he left the switch, and the three of them moved one without another word.

* * *

“So you freaked out.” Undyne said, staring into her cup. “About people seeing them, and thinking you did that to them on purpose?”

“Cl-close. I just didn’t want people to think I was...A failure. Ev-everything down there is a result of my mistakes.” Alphys said, staring into her noodles.

Sans was sitting on a chair nearby, munching on one of his illegally made hotcats, and sighed. “but why not tell asgore? he would’ve explained the whole thing. maybe even taken the blame for it.”

“Th-that’s the thing! It-it’s my mistake! No one else should take the fall.” Alphys rested her head on the desk. “I got too impatient. I should’ve waited to see if there were going to be any drawbacks!”

“Alphys…” 

“Besides...What happened to them...How would I know they wouldn’t start, mindlessly attacking?! Or worse, get attacked?!”

“Wouldn’t that put them out of their misery?” Undyne asked.

“I tried. Nothing worked. They just...Nothing hurts them, but if they're attacked...They retaliate. I-I just…”

Undnye set down her cup and comforted Alphys. Sans began to hum in thought, as he took a few more bites out of his hotcat. He glanced at the busted elevator, and began to piece something together. “determination is the will to live...is...that another factor as to why chara is alive again?”

Alphys looked up from the desk. “An-another factor?”

“well, according to him-”

* * *

Papyrus sat on the bed while the humans SAVED their progress. He still didn’t quite understand the process or how it works, but if it means that they could go back and right a wrong or prevent a disaster, then that was enough for him. A power like that could do so many great things, but he wasn’t stupid. He could also see the risks. Someone with that power could lash out, hurting others, and then go back like nothing happened to avoid the consequence. Someone could use it as blackmail, or to cheat on something. There were just as many cons as there were pros. “IF...YOU DON’T MIND ME ASKING…” The humans turned and looked at Papyrus. “HAVE YOU TWO EVER...HURT SOMEONE? AND THEN GO BACK TO AVOID THE CONSEQUENCE?”

“Why do you ask?” Frisk replied.

“WELL...THE MORE I THINK ABOUT THIS POWER OF YOURS, THE MORE I REALIZE THAT IT COMES WITH MANY CONS. ALMOST MORE SO THAN PROS.” Papyrus shifted nervously on the bed. “AND I WAS WONDERING, IF YOU TWO HAD EVER...USED IT TO DO BAD THINGS…”

The two exchanged a glance, and sighed. “Only once. But it was an accident…” Frisk muttered.

“WHAT HAPPENED?”

“It was during our confrontation with Undyne.” Chara said. “How you know it, is that Undyne passed out in Hotland and we helped her. But that was the first time. All the other attempts…”

“We tried to fight back. To see if we could get her tired enough to stop.” Frisk finished.

“OH TRUST ME...UNDYNE NEVER TIRES WHEN IT COMES TO FIGHTING..." Papyrus blinked for a few seconds. _"NOW THAT I SAY THAT OUT LOUD, I SHOULD’VE WARNED YOU ABOUT THAT AHEAD TIME.”_

“It would’ve been helpful.” Chara chuckled. “We tried and tried, but she was a tough cookie. Most of our death-related RELOADS were from her.” Papyrus shifted his body in a way that said ‘understandable’, before putting his full focus back on the story.

“On one attempt, we were able to get a good few attacks in...But…” Frisk rubbed her arm.

“We were trying to get her tired, and instead…” Chara sighed. “We underestimated our own strength.”

“SO SHE DIED…” Papyrus gathered.

“Not immediately.” Chara replied.

Papyrus raised a brow ridge. “PARDON?”

“She was about to dust, but she somehow...defied that. She regained her form and tried to continue to attack.” Frisk explained.

“The more she tried, the slower her attacks got. After a minute or two, she started…” Chara’s eyes went wide at the memory. “She started melting…”

“MELTING…?!”

The two nodded. “It was...Horrible.” Frisk said. “She kept screaming about how she wouldn’t die, and the more she did, the more she melted.”

“She eventually dusted, but...The sight, her protests...It was too much.” Chara hugged himself.

“That was the first time we LOADED with our own free will, and not because of death.” Frisk stated. Papyrus sat on the bed, taking in all the information, before he glanced at the doorway.

“MELTED...LIKE….THAT AMALGAMATE?” The two looked at Papyrus. “THE ONE WE JUST SAW...UNDYNE...ALMOST TURNED INTO THAT?”

The two exchanged a glance, and then tapped their chins. Chara took a glance at the terminal, and his eyes went wide. _“Melted…”_

“CHARA…?”

Chara took a deep breath, and sat down against the wall. “I think...I think I fully understand what happened here...What happened to Undnye…”

“AND THAT IS…?” Papyrus and Frisk looked at Chara worried. Chara looked up at the two.

“Determination…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I for the life of me couldn't think of any way to describe Snowdrake's mother...So the description for her may feel...Uh, rushed...


	48. An Explanation and a Means to Test a Theory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter, my head's still trying to figure out how to handle Reaper Bird... :/

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN?” Papyrus asked.

“Think about it. The experiments were with Determination, to try and make it so that a monster SOUL persisted after death.” Chara explained. “When the monster didn’t dust, Alphys kept giving them Determination, which woke them up. And Undyne, was Determined to get mine and Frisk’s SOULS, even when she was about to die.”

Papyrus scratched his skull, while Frisk hummed in thought. “So...You’re saying that...Undyne and these monsters, turned out that way, because of too much Determination?”

Chara nodded. Papyrus stood up from the bed, and began to pace back and forth. “BUT...WHY? WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A HUMAN AND A MONSTER HAVING AN EXCESS AMOUNT OF DETERMINATION?”

“That’s what I don’t know.” Chara shrugged. “The only person who could answer that is Alphys, but we know for a fact, that monsters and Determination don’t see eye to eye.”

“So…” Frisk tapped her fingers together and sighed. “What exactly, did that note say?”

Papyrus stopped pacing and pulled the note out of his pocket. “SOMETHING ABOUT...HOW WE’D FIND SOMETHING TO BREAK THE BARRIER…”

“A way to break…” Chara hummed in thought.  _ Alphys experimented with Determination, and it brought monsters back from the brink of dusting...Determination...The will...to...Live…  _ “Hey Frisk?”

“Yeah?”

“When we first started using the SAVE points, what was the last thing that was always said?”

Frisk tapped her chin, before freezing up. “Determination.”

“WHAT ARE YOU SAYING?” Papyrus was rightfully confused.

“When me and Frisk would SAVE out progress, a voice would call out to us. It would always end off the sentence with, HOPEFUL DETERMINATION, and out progress would be SAVED.” Chara stood up, but still leaned against the wall. “If determination is the will to live, then when me, Frisk or both of us die, that will brings us back to the SAVE point.”

“SO, DETERMINATION LET’S YOU, AVOID DEATH...BY GOING BACK IN TIME?”

“I believe so...Which brings to what the note said. About how we could break the barrier.”

“Which is?” Frisk asked.

Chara looked at Frisk with intense focus. “Do you remember your theory? About how the human SOULS could break the barrier, while alive?” Frisk nodded, and Papyrus tensed up at the thought.

“WHAT ARE YOU GETTING AT?”

“Frisk wondered if the humans really needed to die in order to break the barrier. We asked Alphys, but she wasn’t sure. But reading these terminals. I think we need to ask her a new question.” Chara replied.

“Are you saying…?”

“Determination brought monsters back from the brink of death, while you and me get brought back to life and back through time, with no doubt thanks to determination.” Chara sighed. “If these monsters were saved from death...Could Determination, no matter how small, revive the fallen children?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about it being so short. Brain still refuses to hold thoughts together. So the next one should be right back on track, as soon as I figure out how I want to handle the Reaper Bird encounter.


	49. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-5

“I suppose with enough Determination, a human could come back from the dead.” Alphys surmised, jotting down the new information on a whiteboard. “I didn’t get rid of all the Determination the other SOULS had, so if Chara regained his SOUL from pieces of their own, he would’ve gained that Determination.”

“But wasn’t he dead for like, a few decades?” Undyne asked. “Wouldn’t he be more...Dead, looking?”

Alphys looked unsure of that one. “M-maybe the SOUL recreated his body. Maybe it wouldn’t ha-have accepted the corpse, so i-it, made an exact copy, o-or maybe the newfound Determination re-repaired his body…” Alphys began jotting down the theories. “It’s been a while, but I know the patients weren’t dusting, so it’s hard to give a conclusive answer.”

“i supposed i’ll ask the question on everyone’s mind, but what exactly does determination do, that causes all the deja vu?” Sans asked.

“Th-this is just a theory, but I remember so-something that happened after the accident.” Alphys said, drawing on the whiteboard with a yellow marker. “The patients would stare at nothing. They’d just, look at the wall in the bedroom. When I mustered up the courage to ask, one of them just morphed into this.” Alphys pointed at the drawing and Undyne’s lone eye opened wide.

“I’ve seen that!”

“Y-you have?” Alphys was shocked.

“Before Frisk and Chara ran away into Hotland, they stood at a small indent on the path. They were talking about something, and during their planning, I would notice that star sitting there with them! Although, it was very...What’s the word? Glitchy?”

“Glitchy?” Alphys asked. Undyne took the marker and drew the same shape, only to erase some parts, and add in some warped elements to it.

“Like that.” Undyne said, setting the marker down.

“Huh…” Alphys stared at the two stars, and began writing stuff down on her notes.

Sans sighed, and began rubbing both sides of his temple. “is it just me, or does all of this feel…” Sans paused, and his eye sockets were voided of any life. “wait...i just remembered something.”

“What?” Alphys and Undyne asked.

“it’s something back at snowdin. i hope you don’t mind, but the lab will have to wait a bit.” Sans said, already leading them away from the whiteboard.

* * *

Chara looked at the samples, and then put them back in the fridge. They didn’t have any label on them, but they didn’t look like the melted goo from the amalgamates, or any other scientific sample one would expect, but the look was that of a starry sky. “If I had to guess, I’d say that’s determination in it’s raw state.” 

“SO WHAT EXACTLY IS THE PLAN HERE?” Papyrus asked.

Chara set the sample back and stepped away from the fridge. “First off, we need to get the power on, because this place is too dark to work in safely. Secondly, we’ll need Alphys to help out, so we’ll need to get her down here, and then we can start getting to work on getting more Determination.” Chara explained, as the trio walked up to the mechanism. “The DT Extraction Machine needs the power, and maybe a few other things, but as I said, we need more lights.” Chara scratched his chin in thought.

“Are we going to use the machine to extract the Determination from the amalgamates?” Frisk asked.

“Maybe. I want to be sure it won’t kill them, so we’d need to do some quick, SAVE-LOAD testing.” Chara replied. 

“WHERE DO WE TURN ON THE POWER THOUGH?” Papyrus asked, looking up at the machine.

“I think it’s behind the color locked door. We only need one more switch before it opens, so let’s get that done first.” Chara said with confidence. The trio nodded, and went back to the patient bedroom. Frisk and Chara SAVED so they wouldn’t need to do that again, and went into the next room, which was a hallway stretch, with a table filled to the brim with Golden Flowers. Chara gawked at the sight. “What the…?” 

Before he could finish, Frisk walked up to the terminal and read it aloud. **_“We’ll need a vessel to wield the monster SOULS when the time comes. After all, a monster can’t absorb the SOUL of another monster-”_ ** Frisk sped through the rest, before stopping at a specific part of the entry. **_“What about something that is neither human, nor monster?”_ **

“A FLOWER…” Papyrus stated.

“How would that work?” Chara thought out loud. “How do you get a plant to…” He froze. “Oh no…”

“Chara?” Frisk raised a brow and turned to the frozen Chara. 

Chara picked up one of the flowers off of the table, holding it delicately, as if it’d break from a single, normal touch. He sighed, and looked at Frisk and Papyrus. “Flowey…”

“Flowey?” Frisk was taken aback, while Papyrus was wide eyed.

“YOU TWO KNOW FLOWEY?!” He asked.

“We met him at the Ruins.” Chara said. “He tried to kill us.”

“OH…” Papyrus seemed disappointed.

“What does Flowey have to do with this?” Frisk asked.

“Remember, he said he had the same power as us, and that we took it from him. Our Determination stole his power of SAVE, LOAD and RESET.” Chara explained.

Frisk’s eyes were wide open now. “That’s right…!”

“WAIT, FLOWEY HAD THAT SAME POWER!?” Papyrus was shocked.

“According to him.” Chara replied, getting a gasp from Papyrus in response. "Pap?"

“HIS PREDICTIONS…”

“His…” _Flattery. Advice. Encouragement. Predictions…_ Chara thought back to that little tidbit from Sans. “He saw them happen, and then went back.”

Papyrus looked upset. “I...I NEED TO LIE DOWN FOR A BIT. YOU TWO GO ON AHEAD.” Papyrus turned to head back to the beds. Frisk and Chara followed him.

“We should SAVE first, so you keep this information intact.” Frisk said. Papyrus only nodded and went for a random bed. Frisk and Chara SAVED their progress and went back. They didn’t read the other terminal. They didn’t need to. Everything was starting to make sense. Except…

“Is that why Flowey knew about me and the Dreemurr’s?” Chara thought out loud. “From all of his own LOADS and RESETS?”

“It wouldn’t shock me. Something about him...He feels like the type of weed to do that sort of thing to see if something changes.” Frisk replied.

“You have a point…” Chara said, slightly toned down.

“Something wrong?” 

Chara began looking around wildly. “It feels like we’re being watched.” 

“Watched?”

“Like we’re not the only ones in this room…” The two stopped. The more they focused on the surrounding area, the more the feeling grew. Chara clutched Frisk’s hand as she nervously began moving behind him. If it wasn’t for the fact that nothing hurts the amalgamates, they’d have summoned their weapons by now. They cautiously looked around, before facing the mirror, which not only showed them, but a small, white square, with a smile on it.

“Oh no…” The two said in unison.

The square lurched away from the mirror, as a 7ft long amalgamate faced them. The only part about it that Chara understood was the Astigmatism head, which he only recognized because of their role as a CORE guard, but the rest was new to him. The body looking like a strange, elongated bird form. “Man...You look awful…” Chara muttered.

Frisk looked at her partner with concern and shock, but when the amalgamate began nodding excitedly, she decided to not chew him out. “What next?”

Chara stared at the amalgamate with a worried look. “That’s all I know at the moment…”

**_“#%$^$%@^ &$%&%$@#&%%$#^%$#@” _ ** The amalgamate readied an attack, with a strange man-like blob bullet, before butterflies descended on it, and obscured it’s face. The amalgamate wasn’t all that pleased. **_“^%$ &&*^%$#@#%$%^&*(*&^ So afraid of?”_ **

Papyrus came running in, and saw the amalgamate. He inserted himself between it and the humans. “HOW MUCH DID YOU PACIFY IT?”

“Not by much.” Chara replied. “I only recognized Astigmatism, but everything else is a blur…”

“WELL THAT’S JUST PEACHY THEN…” Papyrus said with a slight irritated tone. He cleared his throat. “LISTEN, I KNOW THIS MAY SEEM BAD, BUT WE CAN HELP YOU!! JUST, LET US...GIVE US SOME CLUES!!” Papyrus began stammering. “I KNOW, HOW ABOUT WE GET YOU CLEANED UP? I DOUBT STAYING DOWN HERE HAS DONE ANY WONDERS FOR-” The amalgamate began convulsing, before the bullet from earlier reappeared, and began walking towards the trio, releasing butterflies all the while. The three dodged most of them, but Papyrus did sustain damage from a few bullets. “OK…” Papyrus muttered. “FIRST OF ALL, YOU ARE BEING VERY RUDE. WE’RE JUST TRYING TO HELP YOU!! THERE’S NO NEED TO FIGHT AT THE MOMENT!! YOU SEEM CONFUSED AND LET’S FACE IT, CONTRADICTORY TO THE OTHER DENIZENS IN YOUR FORM!!” Papyrus berated the amalgamate.

“Please…” Frisk squeaked. “We just want to help…” Frisk cautiously approached the amalgam, as it began to shrink away from the group. Frisk gave a patient smile, as the amalgamate began to stare at her idly before lunging at the defenseless human. Papyrus pushed Frisk out of the way, and took the full brunt of the assault, making a sizable break in his battle body, and a few giant cracks in his bones. “PAPYRUS!!!” Frisk rushed to the skeleton, who was deeply injured, but thankfully not dead. Frisk pulled out the pie and gave it to Papyrus. 

“THANKS…” Papyrus muttered, taking a few bites. Frisk didn’t respond to Papyrus, but had just clung to him, mumbling about how that was a close call along with some prayers that it wouldn’t happen again. The amalgamate saw Frisk, and began recoiling, and staring at it’s reflection, looking distraught at what’d had done.

Chara looked between the amalgamate, Papyrus and Frisk. Whatever happened, it seemed like it began to regret it’s actions. Like it remembered it’s conscience. He took a breath and carefully approached the amalgamate. “Look, we all make mistakes, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make up for them.” He said calmly, before placing a hand on the head. “Just...Try to do something different next time. Like not attacking. We don’t blame you, but at least think first, ok?” The amalgamate just stared at Chara. It looked questioning. After all, it did just injure someone close to him, so why not retaliate. It stared at him like he himself was a mystery, and began to remember.

“Finally, someone gets it.”

“Ribbit ribbit.”

“Courage…”

The amalgamate disappeared, and the three were left alone once again. They all sighed, and Chara sat by Papyrus and Frisk. “Do you, need a minute?” He asked Papyrus.

“I’M GOOD NOW…” Papyrus replied, hovering a hand over the hole in his battle body. He sighed. _“IT SERVED WELL._ I GUESS THE REAL QUESTION IS, ARE YOU TWO GOOD TO CONTINUE?”

“I want to get this over with.” Frisk replied tearfully.

“Me too.”

Papyrus stood up, and held out his hands. “THEN LET US BE OFF THEN!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be longer, and come out a few days ago, but I ended up having to go out of the house a lot for shopping and my dad came over one day, so I hadn't found much time to write it, and to make things worse life decided to hit me with the mental and physical fatigue stick, so I've been sluggish for the past few days as well. So yeah...
> 
> In other news, I decided to edit a few things from previous chapters, mainly descriptions, but I might edit Chara's long dialogue detailing his life in chapter 2, since someone pointed out that it was kinda repetitive, and now that I think about it, it's also kinda long, so expect that to change at some point.
> 
> Hopefully after another day or two I'll be good to get right back on track with how I usually did the chapters, so stay tuned while I try and regain my energy. :)


	50. Chapter 6: TRUE LAB-6

Alphys finished fixing the final row of wires, and a nearby screen on the wall flicked on. On it was a massive image of interlocking lines, each branching off into more and more. The lines were at a multitude at first, with seemingly no end as the lines kept branching off and overlapping, until it all stopped. At last, a single line was present, with only the barest of branches. Undyne looked at the screen with confusion, while Alphys was in awe. “the last thing the old royal scientist left was this machine. it’s multi-purpose, but this right here. this was it’s true goal.” Sans explained. “when you started talking about the determination experiments, and how it might connect to the bouts of deja vu, i remembered this little tidbit. It was busted for a while, and even paps couldn’t fix it.”

“What is all this?” Undyne asked. Sans pulled out a piece of paper from one of the drawers.

“gaster said that this machine would track ‘an anomaly.'" Sans stated plainly. "something that would create multiple timelines.”

“Timelines…?” Alphys pondered.

“yep. according to the instructions, this image is a table of contents of our timeline, but with some button presses, we should be able to see _all_ timelines. you can probably guess, how it got busted up.”

“You mean there’s more?!” Alphys exclaimed.

“that’s what it says. i guess it’s not meant to handle the outcome of showing each and every possible thing that could happen.” Sans put the instructions away. “when you and undyne were talking about that star, something clicked.” Sans pointed to the very first line, at the small star that connected the branching lines. “how i think it works, is that this very first line is the course of history, from before the experiments. everything from the war, to the king losing his kids, to those experiments. the line is interrupted by this star, before everything goes to hell.”

“What are you getting at?” Undyne asked.

“I think he’s saying, that this whole maze of lines was caused by one of the patients.” Alphys explained. “That something to do with their DETERMINATION had caused...This…”

“from the looks of it, it must be very high traces of it too.” Sans added. “undyne could you always see those stars?”

“You could say that. But they always fazed through my hand, so I never bothered.” She replied.

“and alphys, you said the patients would stare at it?” She nodded in response, and Sans’ eyes went dark. “stare. never touch?”

“On-only staring.”

“then what else could it be? because it ends about here, and then only has minor branches.” Sans gestured to the second star. “but what else in those experiments could’ve caused this?”

Everyone hummed in thought, before Alphys gasped and froze in place. Undyne and Sans tried to break her out of her trance, but she could only mutter one thing everytime. _“The vessel…”_

“What?! V-vessel?" Undyne gripped Alphy's shoulders. "Al, just what exactly is going on here?!"

Alphys’ eyes widened, and she took Sans by the shoulders. “We-need-to-get-to-the-lab-quickly!”

“um...ok?" Sans made his way to the door out of his 'secret room' and gestured to the others to follow him. As soon they entered the lab from Sans' shortcut, Alphys' eyes went straight to the now bright lights.

“The lights are on?!" Alphys cried out. "Why are the lights on?! The power went out days ago and I-”

“Alphys, get a hold of yourself!” Undyne took Alphys by the shoulders. “Breath. In and out. Try to relax.”

Alphys did as she was told, and took deep breaths. “Ok...Ok...I’m good now. There’s some premade food in one of the cupboards in the leftmost room. Undyne, could you get them into some bowls? I need to feed the patients anyway.”

“On it!” Undyne fist pumped.

“Sans, you and me will check out the power room.”

“ok.” The three went to do their tasks, with Undyne heading towards the left as Sans and Alphys kept walking straight. They entered an elevator and went through the left exit, and the two froze when the sounds of screaming rang out from ahead. Alphys freaked out and ran ahead of Sans, passing by the terminals and entering the open room, which was filled with the amalgamates advancing on something.

“HEY!! STOP!!!” Alphys called out to the amalgamates, and they did just that. Endogeny and Lemon Bread scooted away from each other, revealing the items of interest to be Papyrus, Chara and Frisk. Alphys was shocked to see them, but quickly put that behind her and addressed the amalgamates. “Undyne is getting food prepared, okay?!” That seemed to improve the mood of the amalgamates, as they all left happily. Sans entered the room, looking back at them.

“geez, al. you really did a number on them.” Sans looked out at Papyrus. “bro?” He then noticed the two humans, looking pretty peeved. “uh, hey kiddos.” Sans started to get nervous at their gaze. “what’s, uh, happening?”

“You would know, if you read the note I gave you back at the corridor, Sans.” Frisk’s tone was deadly.

“Note?” Alphys asked.

Sans’ eyes went pitch black at the mention of that. “shit…”

“Do not worry, Sans.” Chara said with a murderous tone. “Papyrus read it for you.” That did not help calm Sans down. "And wouldn't you know it, the contents turned out to be a one way ticket to dangerville" The two humans pierced daggers at Sans, who was starting to shrink in on himself.

“HUMANS, PLEASE, DON’T TALK TO SANS LIKE THAT.” Papyrus said.

“thanks bro.” Sans sighed.

“THAT’S MY JOB BECAUSE I WAS THE ONE WHO TOLD HIM HE DROPPED SOMETHING ON THE FLOOR.” Papyrus said coldly, bringing back all of Sans’ worry. “AND JUST LIKE HIS SOCK, HE **REFUSED TO** **_PICK IT UP!!”_ **

Alphys just looked at Sans, who had thrown on his hood, and drew the draw strings pretty damn tight. “et tu, papyrus?”

“MEANING, AS USUAL, I WAS THE ONE WHO HAD TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. WHAT DID THAT EARN ME THIS TIME? OH, JUST SOME MORE _NIGHTMARES TO ADD TO THE LIST!”_

“ok, look, in my defense, i was tired.” Sans said.

“THAT IS A TERRIBLE DEFENSE, SANS!”

“It’s not his fault he tried to keep us from getting to Asgore by fighting us.” Chara deadpanned.

“Which was completely uncalled for.” Frisk added.

Everyone present in the room had just glared at Sans, who was slowly, burying himself further into his jacket and sweater. He took a quick glance around, and even the amalgamates came back to glare at Sans. Or maybe they just heard the noise and came back to see what was happening. Hard to tell. Still, at this point, Sans only had one thing left to say. “so...what did the note say?”

* * *

“So...When someone has an insurmountable amount of DETERMINATION, the will to live extends to the very laws of time itself, making it so one can go back, and change that outcome?” Alphys summarized, and the two humans nodded, with Papyrus giving a thumbs up. “And you two aren’t the first ones to have this power?”

“No, the first person to have this power was Flowey.” Chara said. “The vessel.”

Alphys jotted down every single piece of detail the humans shared, as Sans came back from Snowdin and handed Papyrus an undamaged shirt, with Undyne rubbing her temple. “So the Deja vu, was caused by us, slightly remembering the past timelines?”

“I guess so.” Frisk replied.

“It’s only logical!” Alphys piped in. “If a timeline was undone, and we were sent back to the beginning, any action we do in the new timeline had already been done in the previous, and since the actions of the first timeline are still there, we would have a faint feeling of us doing the actions beforehand!” Alphys began pacing. “Think of it like your brain is giving you a wake up call. The Deja vu is like a sign telling us that something isn’t right. We may have forgotten, but a part of us wants to remember!”

“So essentially, even though we forgot, we still remember…”

“Basically.” Chara said.

Undyne lied down on the bed, trying to process all this new information, as Frisk and Chara began whispering something. Alphys was too busy taking down notes, and the skele-brothers were too busy having their own idle chat. “SANS, I HAVE A QUESTION.” Papyrus set the replacement shirt down. “WHAT HAS YOU SO RILED UP LATELY?”

“you sure you want the answer to that?” Sans replied.

“OF COURSE I DO! IT’S BEEN WEIRD SEEING YOU SO NERVOUS ALL THE TIME. IF WE WERE YOUNGER, IT’D MAKE SENSE, BUT WITH HOW LAZY YOU ARE NOW, IT COMES OFF AS OUT OF CHARACTER.”

Sans shrugged. “it’s just...something that dad said before he disappeared. had me all tensed up.”

“HOW SO?”

Sans looked over at Chara, who was still whispering something to Frisk, and sighed. “something about that man’s predictions...they just don’t sit right with me…”

Chara and Frisk finished their conversation off with a nod, and Chara approached Alphys. “Hey Alphys, do you remember Frisk’s theory about if the human SOULS were alive, they could break the barrier?”

“Yes. Why?”

“Well...We might have a way to test that theory.” Chara sighed. “But you’re not going to like it…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Exhales* So, I'm back! I did some updates on previous chapters, which were mainly some small tweaks to Chara's backstory he told Frisk, as well as a small tweak in what Frisk's outfit is, but that's not really important.
> 
> Much like with drawing, it's gonna take me a while to get back into the groove of things, so this page may seem jarring. I hope you understand.
> 
> In other news, I've decided to make a little short story collection for HOPEFUL DETERMINATION! There's only one thing on there right now, but I got the idea after thinking about if I should make something for the holidays. How the short stories will work is that they take place before, during or after the events of HOPEFUL DETERMINATION, as well as maybe have some small AU scenarios.
> 
> The current short story isn't the best, but I hope some people will still find it enjoyable. Hopefully I can get back into the groove of writing these soon. :)
> 
> Anyway, get ready, because things are gonna get crazy soon...


	51. Prelude Towards The End (Part 1/2)

“Y-YOU WANT TO WHAT?!?!” Alphys screamed out.

Chara took a step back and winced. He knew that would be her response. “I-I want to try and revive the other fallen humans…”

“Aw, hell yeah!” Undyne piped up. “That sounds awesome!”

“That sounds dangerous and highly likely to end in failure!” Alphys stammered. “We don’t even know the logistics of how Chara came back to life, or more importantly, how he came back to life with his body intact!” That alone got everyone to pause.

“I...I just…” Chara let his head down.

“Lo-look, I understand why you’d want to help th-them...But there are so many factors to consider.” Alphys stated. “For one thing, just injecting the corpses with DETERMINATION, and then jamming their SOULS back in may hold unsuspecting prospects. According to you guys, everytime you died, you went back in time a few minutes or so before then, and if we get this wrong, it could result in one of them gaining enough DETERMINATION to not only revive them, but also send them all the way back to when THEY fell. Besides, we may not even have enough DT, and someone could accidentally absorb the SOULS or worse, the SOUL could just fly off somewhere.”

Chara kept quiet. He just stood and listened. Frisk and the others were spectating idly, unsure if they should speak up with their own idea.

“Another factor, as I said, is that we don’t know how YOU got your body intact.” Alphys continued. “We don’t know if your SOUL repaired it, or if this is just an idealization manifested from your SOUL.” Alphys struggled to find her next words, before sighing. “There’s just...So many factors we don’t fully understand…”

Everyone just looked lost, even the amalgamates. Chara kept staring at the floor, mindlessly scratching one arm, saying nothing. Alphys stepped away and plopped onto one of the beds, worn out from the events of the day. Undyne plopped down next to her, as Sans and Papyrus began looking over the amalgamates. Frisk walked up to Chara and set a hand on his shoulder. “Chara…?”

Chara sighed. “I just wanted to make sure everyone would be free. Without having to fear.”

“What?” Everyone said.

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEfY1-q0lmo)

“I’m sure with just the six SOULS, and either me or Frisk using our magic, the barrier could break, with the other six disappearing afterwards. Monsters could be free, and possibly have a wonderful life on the surface.” Chara looked up at the ceiling. “But humans are curious. They’d find out eventually. About the other children. About what happened to them.” Chara leaned on the wall, looking back down at the floor. “It’d happen again. But the casualties would be worse…” He slid down the wall, sitting lifelessly. “I was hoping we could avoid that. That humans and monsters would finally live in peace. Even if there was a little tension, it would be better than full on paranoia from both sides…”

The others looked at each other somberly. It was true that, even if monsters were freed at the cost of the other SOULS, they’d live in fear. Fear that the humans would find out, and start yet another war. Undyne thought she’d be ready for that, but something in the back of her head knew that Asgore was only doing that because he had to. If another war were to break out, whether it was humans or monsters who started it, the monsters were not prepared in any scenario. Papyrus and Sans glanced at each other. As much as the two wanted to see the stars. To see the sun. Would it really be worth it if six kids had to die in the process? Would it really be worth it, if another war was started? It didn’t feel right. It wasn’t right. “I just...Wanted to make sure everyone was full of hope...And not fear…” Chara muttered. Frisk knelt down beside him, and pulled him into a hug.

Fear. That was something Alphys knew all too well. After all, fear is what kept her from bringing the amalgamates to their families. She was afraid they’d make her out to be a villain. She was afraid that the blame would be shifted to the king for approving of the experiment. She looked at the amalgamates, who were all unmoving. Clearly, they too were fearful. Fearful of being rejected by their families. Alphys sighed, and cowered behind her hands. She wanted to help, but the last time she experimented with SOULS, innocent monsters were mutated in the process. “W-well...I suppose...The DT we have should suffice…” Alphys squeaked. Everyone turned their attention to the scientist. “Humans are mainly physical, and as such, can hold large portions of DT, unlike monsters, who’re mainly made of magic. It took a lot of DT just to get the patients to wake up, but…”

“But…?” Frisk prodded.

“With the DT we have, we could give it back to the SOULS, and then return the SOULS to the bodies...If given proper treatment, maybe...The humans c-could come back…”

“R-really?” Chara perked up.

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dvGTDW_bII)

Undyne practically flew out of the bed and landed on the floor, cracking it. “HELL YEAH!!! THAT SOUNDS LOGICAL ENOUGH!!!”

“did ya really have to shout it?” Sans asked, rubbing his skull where the ears would be.

“WHILE I AGREE WITH SANS ON UNDYNE’S USE OF OUTSIDE VOICE, I MUST ALSO AGREE THAT IT DOES SOUND REASONABLE ENOUGH. AND-” Papyrus gestured to Chara and Frisk. “WE _DO_ HAVE A FAILSAFE.”

“Yeah, If something goes wrong, we could go back and warn you guys about it!” Frisk perked up. Chara stood up from the floor.

“We’d need Dad to approve of it though.” He said.

“That is true, b-but…” Alphys looked at the amalgamates. “I haven’t told him about them…”

Undyne sighed and approached Alphys, pulling her into a hug. “Alphys, you kept them hidden long enough. Sooner or later, words gonna get out.”

“and when that happens, i think the outcome will be a lot worse than if you let them free now.” Sans finished.

Alphys sighed. “I...You guys are right. I should’ve let them go a long time ago.”

“You should’ve, but we understand your reasonings.” Chara said. “After all…” He glanced at the amalgamates. “If I was in your position, I might’ve done the same thing.”

“BUT IT’S NOT TOO LATE! YOU CAN STILL CLEAR YOUR CONSCIENCE!” Papyrus added.

“Plus, I’m sure that once you do, you’ll find that you want to try even harder to make sure you don’t repeat it.” Frisk commented.

Alphys began to beam at the sound of her friend's reassurances. “Y-yeah! All of you are right!” She turned to the amalgamates. “Come on guys. It’s time you all headed home!” The amalgamates beamed at the sound and began to convulse in enjoyment.

“speaking of home. i’m sure we’ll all want to be rested for asgore. something tells me that a united front would be a better standpoint than just the kids.”

“Is that your way of trying to make up for the note?” Frisk asked jokingly.

Sans shrugged. “perhaps.”

Papyrus raised a gloved phalange. “THAT’S SANS SPEAK FOR ‘YES’.”

Sans chuckled and patted Papyrus on the back. “you know me so well bro.”

“Well, you guys can take a shortcut to Snowdin if you want.” Undyne said. “I think it’s better if me and Alphys take the long way.”

“You’re coming with me?!” Alphys blushed.

“Of course! Someone’s gotta be your emotional backup! Besides..." She looked at the amalgamates and gave a small smile. "I want to see their faces too. When they see their families.”

“W-well then, I guess we’ll meet up at Papyrus’ place then?” Alphys asked.

“Sounds like a plan.” Chara said.

“Of course!” Frisk replied.

“NO BETTER MEETING PLACE THEN THE HOME OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS!”

“i’m down with that.” Sans said.

“Good!” Alphys stood up on her toes to reach Undyne's ear. _“You’ll sh-show me where that is, r-right?”_

_“Duh…!”_

“Th-then it’s settled!” Alphys motioned for the amalgamates to follow. “Let’s go see your families!”

* * *

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N1-RyLUQUrA)

Papyrus walked out of his room, equipped with a more fitting appearance, consisting of an orange shirt beneath a jacket and some regular jeans. As usual, the scarf, gloves and boots remained. Frisk and Chara were on the couch, watching a segment of Mettaton’s show, which seemed to really amp up it’s production quality ever since his new body was finished. Sans was in the kitchen grabbing something. Chara moved his neck around and felt that his joints were kinda stiff. So like any person, he started popping them, much to the skeleton brothers annoyance. “kid, can you not?” Sans asked. Chara stared the skeleton in the eye sockets, as he popped his neck. Sans’ eye sockets went pitch black, and Papyrus’ eyes bulged out of his skull.

“CHARA, PLEASE!!!” Chara stopped at Papyrus’ call, only for Frisk to smirk and crack her knuckles. Papyrus took a deep breath. “FRISK YOU TRAITOR…” The two humans laughed at the sight. Sans took a swig of ketchup as Papyrus shook his head at both parties. “SANS, KETCHUP IS NOT FOOD!”

“no way bro, it’s got all the basic food groups.”

“AND THE LAST TIME I HEARD SOMEONE LAUGH THAT MUCH AS SOMEONE ELSE'S MISFORTUNE-” Papyrus addressed the humans. “WAS WHEN SANS TRICKED ME INTO HIS ‘UPDOG’ PLOY.”

“i have never in my life, have ever gotten that to work before…” Sans beamed at the memory.

Frisk and Chara continued chuckling, with Papyrus barely containing his own laughter at the memory. Frisk was the first one to calm down. “So what exactly are we going to tell Asgore?”

“The truth. Why we needed to leave, what happened down at the true lab, and then our plan.” Chara said.

Sans pointed to Chara and nodded as he took another sip of ketchup. Papyrus and Frisk looked nervous however. “ARE YOU SURE ALPHYS WILL BE ABLE TO MUSTER UP THE COURAGE?”

“She has us watching her back!” Chara replied. “Besides, he’ll understand. He always does.” Chara looked to the floor absent-mindedly, and Frisk placed a hand on his knee. Chara sighed and looked back up at the others. “I suppose now is as good a time as any, but what’s the plan for when the barrier breaks?” 

“THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION.” Papyrus stated.

“i think the plan was that chara was to act as an ambassador for the monsters, should we ever find a way to cross the barrier, or…”

“Or...What?” Chara asked. “I was never told that.”

Sans’ eye sockets went pitch black again. “they never told you?” Chara shook his head.

“Told him what?” Frisk asked with a worried tone.

Sans sighed, and set the ketchup bottle down. “a few months after the family accepted chara as their own, there were talks about what to do for the foreseeable future.” Sans explained. “asgore and tori had the idea of, when they finally died, chara could take one of their souls, cross the barrier, and act as the proxy for human-monster relations. going back and forth to discuss the future and possible peace between the races.”

“AND YOU KNOW THIS BECAUSE…?”

“dad couldn't keep his mouth shut.” Sans shrugged. "or, i guess, couldn't keep his hands still in _that_ case, since we were in the lab when he told me..."

Chara looked out into nothing, processing the information that had been given to him. “They already had a plan…” Frisk put a hand on Chara’s shoulder, but he didn’t react. “And they didn’t tell us…”

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hx102NjYwqk)

Frisk, Sans and Papyrus all looked at each other, as Sans kicked himself in his non-existent ass. He was really in for it now. “look, kid, i’m sorry you had to find out this way, but they didn’t tell you because...well...asgore thought you had enough on your plate as is.” 

“Because I was ‘The Hope of Humans and Monsters’.” Chara rolled his eyes. “I can understand why they didn’t but...If they did…” He sighed. “Well...That doesn’t matter now.”

“LOOK CHARA, I KNOW HAVING THE NEWS DROPPED ON YOU LIKE THAT IS PRETTY...WELL LOW, BUT LOOK ON THE BRIGHT SIDE!”

“You mean the one currently resting her hand on my shoulder?” Chara asked, causing Frisk to blush.

Sans gave a small chuckle. “well, that’s part of it, but there’s more.” Sans cleared his throat. “after how things initially ended between you and me, had things gone on the way the king and queen planned, i doubt you’d be hanging with me and papyrus.”

“THINK OF ALL THE FUN PUZZLES YOU WOULD’VE MISSED OUT ON, OR ALL OF THE NEW FRIENDS YOU HAVE MADE ON YOUR JOURNEY!”

“They’re right.” Frisk smiled. “You never would’ve met Napstablook or Mettaton, heck, Mettaton would probably still be a ghost, you would’ve most likely have never met MK-”

“and think of it like this. monsters have been wanting to get out of here since we were first trapped. if you’d have been alive, as well as any of the other fallen humans that came after you, people would get even more reckless. i doubt the king and queen would’ve had the guts to stop a revolt, or any assassination attempts.” Sans added.

“BESIDES, YOU’D BE RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY ACTION MONSTERKIND TOOK. I DON’T KNOW HOW HUMANS ON THE SURFACE ACT, BUT IF THEY STARTED A WAR WITH US, CHANCES ARE, THEY WOULDN’T BE NEARLY AS MERCIFUL AS YOU TWO. THERE’D BE DEMANDS-”

“protests from both parties-”

“And, if the humans wanted to meet the leader of the monsters, which would’ve been Asriel, there’d still be a barrier in between. I doubt they’d break it if you asked nicely.”

“Ok, ok, I get it!” Chara finally said, raising his hands in the air. “The responsibility would’ve killed me, I get it.” Chara smiled. “But, thanks guys. It means a lot to me that you even thought about cheering me up!”

“OF COURSE! WE’RE FRIENDS!”

“And, we’re partners.” Frisk said, before giving Chara a peck on the cheek. “It’s what we’re here for. What I’m here for!” 

Chara smiled and gave Frisk a kiss. Papyrus beamed at the two while Sans just chuckled to himself. “get a room.”

“SANS…” Papyrus groaned, before retreating to the kitchen. Sans sat down on the couch, and the three resumed watching Mettaton’s show. Chara looked between Sans and Frisk, and settled into the couch. They were right. There were many bright sides that have happened since Chara’s plan failed. Many, many bright sides.

_(And don’t you dare forget them, Chara. Least of all, Frisk.)_

* * *

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dvGTDW_bII)

Alphys hung up her phone. The Riverperson’s boat was tipping slightly at the end, thanks to Endogeny, but they didn’t mind. They didn’t really seem to mind much. Odd. “That was Mettaton.”

Undyne groaned. “What’d he want?”

“He was wondering if he could join us.”

“Why?” Undyne groaned. Mettaton may have tried to help Alphys when it came to the whole, date thing, but that didn’t immediately put him on Undyne’s nice list.

“W-well, he was asking about wh-whether or not an interview with the king would be a good episode for his show. I explained that he couldn’t do that at the moment for ‘reasons’, but as soon as I said that, he already decided to join us. S-so, now we kinda have to meet him at the lab.”

“Do we have to?” Undyne asked.

“Even if we don’t meet him there, he’ll find us. When it comes to possible show recordings, he gets stubborn. Trust me, it’s better for all of us if we just let him in on it.”

“Fiiiinnnneee.” The boat stopped as soon as Undyne finished. The path into Snowdin town was now in front of them.

“Here we are, Tra la la.” The Riverperson muttered.

“Th-thank you.” Alphys said, stepping off the boat. She took about two steps into the snow before Endogeny bolted into town. “WAIT, NO! Y-YOU’RE GONNA SCARE THE TOWN!!” Alphys called out. Undyne picked her up and ran to catch up with Endogeny, leaving So Cold trailing slowly behind them.

Endogeny stopped in front of Grillby’s where the Canine Unit had just gotten off break. The guards looked at the amalgamate, who lowered themselves down to the ground, wagging their tail at the sight of them. The unit gasped, and ran towards the amalgamate. 

(MOM!)

“COUSIN!”

“Grandpa!” Doggo and the rest surrounded Endogeny, beaming at the sight of their now joined family.

“I guess we’ll have to combine all of our family reunions now, huh?” Dogamy asked.

“We’re gonna run out of room at Grillby’s…” Doggo muttered.

Undyne and Alphys watched on as the townsfolk began cheering at the sight of the Canine Unit’s family reunion, when So cold came up behind them. “Sn...o...wy..?”

“Ah, yes, um…” Alphys looked around and grabbed one of the bears in town. “E-excuse me, but do you know where Snowdrake is?”

“Snowdrake and his dad are further in Snowdin Forest. Snowdrake usually hangs out by that tall skeleton’s post.” The bear pointed to the forest.

“Ah, perfect!” Undyne said. “Follow me, I know where to go!” Undyne led Alphys and So Cold through the forest, which seemed like a cake walk now that all the puzzles were deactivated. The trio kept quiet, until a faint conversation could be heard. Alphys went ahead of Undyne, bringing So Cold with her, as the faint figures of Snowdrake and his father appeared before them. Snowdrake stopped his current line of dialogue, as he saw the melted form of his mother approaching. He glowed at the sight.

“MOM!!” Snowdrake ran up to So Cold.

“Sn...o…” So Cold embraced her son, and the whole area seemed to glow at the two’s reunion. 

“Mom, Mom, you’ll never guess what happened! I met the humans! And they laughed at my jokes!”

“Hu...man…”

“Yeah, they did! I’m gonna be a famous comedian!”

“I’m….So….Pr….oud….”

Alphys teared up at the sight, but stiffened at the sound of Snowdrakes father approaching her. He adjusted his glasses, and sighed. “Listen, ah...I understahnd why you took so long...To let me know about this.” He glanced back at Snowdrake and his mom, before breaking out into a small, patient smile. “But ah wahnted to...Thank you. For your honesty.” He gestured to the others. “It’s real nice tah...Have our fahmily back togehtah again.” Snowdrakes dad gave a slight bow of the head, before joining his fahmily.

Alphys and Undyne smiled at the three, before Undyne lifted Alphys off the ground with a smile. “You feel better now?”

“Y-yeah. I feel better now…”

“Good. Now let’s head over to Papyrus’ place pronto, so we can then head to the lab, and then to Asgore!”

“R-right!” Undyne set Alphys down, and the two began to make the trek back to Snowdin. Unaware that a Golden Flower peaked out from the snow nearby, watching the whole thing. The flower muttered to itself, before retreating back into the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did a lot of moving around today, and I also got like...ZERO sleep because my brain wouldn't shut down, so only one chapter. Sorry. 
> 
> You know exactly why I'm linking this...: https://lynxgriffin.tumblr.com/post/135475838113/after-all-the-sadness-and-awful-of-the-previous
> 
> We're nearing the end! Hopefully it lives up to everyone's expectations!
> 
> (Hey look I found a use for the unused soundtracks!)


	52. Prelude Towards The End (Part 2/2)

“so mettaton’s joining us, eh?” Sans commented.

“Y-yes.” Alphys replied sheepishly. “Trust me, it-it’s better if you don’t try and fight him on stuff like th-this.”

Sans shrugged while Chara and Frisk leaned back into the couch with a grunt. Of all the people that could join them, why Mettaton? They didn’t hate him, it’s just that he would make the whole sales pitch into some kind of drama show. That’s the last thing the two wanted to deal with. “Are we sure we can’t just tell him no?” Frisk asked.

“S-sorry, but he’d just join in without our consent a-anyways.” Alphys sighed.

_“Of course he would.”_ Chara whispered. He’d say he tolerates the robot now, but that didn’t excuse all of Mettaton's bad aspects. Still, it looks like he has no choice. Sans stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, where Papyrus had stayed. Actually, it was kind of concerning. Chara and Frisk followed suit, and everyone was headed to the kitchen.

“hey, paps. guess who’s going to-” Sans paused at the sight. Everyone who was behind him stared in disbelief, as his plastered smile grew even wider, and more genuine at the sight of Papyrus holding up a bottle of honey, tipped as though he was about to drink it straight from the bottle. “papyrus, i’m so proud of you right now.” Sans’ eye lights turned star shaped as Papyrus’ eye lights had taken up all the space in his eye sockets.

“Papyrus-” Undyne tried to choke back her laughter. “Were you about to-”

“IT’S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!!” Papyrus protested. “I WASN’T GOING TO DRINK THIS STRAIGHT OUT OF THE BOTTLE I SWEAR!!!” Papyrus was too busy defending himself, he didn’t notice Sans peak inside the trash can.

“he’s right. he wouldn’t have.” Sans grabbed the trash and held it up to show it’s contents to the others, making a show of the other empty bottles of honey. “otherwise trashy would run out of space, what with all the other empty bottles.”

“SANS!!!!”

“Wow...The Great Papyrus. Sharing more in common with his brother than previously thought.” Frisk teased.

“FRISK YOU FIEND!!!”

“What’s next? Do you secretly slack off when you’re absolutely sure nobody is watching?” Chara joined in. “Doing nothing but boondoggle when you’re supposed to be on the lookout.”

“CHARA!!!”

“Oh, so that’s why you never let me see the inside of your station!” Undyne tagged along. “Because of all the hidden bottles of honey, magazines and pillows behind it’s walls.”

“NOT YOU TOO UNDYNE!”

“Don’t worry Papyrus.” Alphys said, calming the skeleton. “After all, it’s nice to see when siblings act like each other.”

“EVEN MORE BETRAYAL!!” Papyrus shouted. “LET’S GO MEET METTATON BEFORE THIS STICKY SITUATION DESCENDS ANY FURTHER.”

“heh. _sticky_ situation.” Sans teased.

“NOW’S NOT THE TIME SANS!!!” Papyrus called out, slightly failing at keeping his own laughter contained.

* * *

The gang enter Alphys’ lab thanks to a shortcut, and see Mettaton watching the security footage screen while tapping a foot impatiently. Sans briefly looked at the monitor, before he just left. Everyone else was slightly confused, but shrugged it off to Sans being Sans. Everyone made their way from the entrance and into the lab proper, with Papyrus being extra giddy about it, possibly at the prospect of actually getting to meet Mettaton properly and not just seeing him for a few seconds.

Mettaton turned to the group and a smile formed on his face. “Alphys, darling! There you are! I was getting worried.” He marched over to the group.

“R-really?”

“Of course! I saw on Undernet that you brought those fallen back to their families.” Mettaton explained. “People were talking about how I should interview you on that subject, and I knew that if you saw that, you’d get worried.”

“Wait, so you wanted to make sure she was okay?” Undyne asked.

Mettaton nodded. “I saw the photo’s of the fallen and...Well...After Alphys told me what you guys were going to discuss with the king, I figured ‘Well, why not shift focus back onto Asgore? See how he feels now that Chara is back.’” Mettaton paused when he saw the looks on everyone’s faces. “Not a good idea is it?”

“No.” Chara replied.

“I think that’d just make people suspicious.” Frisk added.

“Right…” Mettaton put his hands together and took a breath. “Well, I still want to come with. Whatever you’re planning, I’m sure it involves science.” Everyone nodded and Mettaton smiled. “So, why not have the first ‘Robot with a SOUL’ present to help sweeten the deal?”

“That...That makes sense.” Alphys muttered.

“Yeah, that’s actually pretty smart.” Chara replied.

“So you’re not doing this for the views?” Undyne asked, still suspicious of the robot. She eased up slightly when Mettaton shook his head.

Papyrus made himself present by forcing himself to the front of the group. “METTATON!! I’M ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST FANS!!” Papyrus was bouncing up and down. “I DIDN’T GET A CHANCE TO GREET YOU WHEN I FIRST CAME HERE!”

“I remember. You’re the one Undyne said would help Alphys improve her self-confidence.” Mettaton replied. “Papyrus, right?”

“YES!!”

The others watched on as Papyrus began fawning over Mettaton and complimenting his shows. Undyne and Chara looked on, smiling at Papyrus’ excitement. Chara however, was suspicious of the looks Alphys and Frisk had as they watched the interaction. “Guys...No.”

“Guys, yes!” Frisk replied.

“I already have several friend-fiction ideas.” Alphys muttered.

“You guys are weird.” Undyne commented, before lifting Alphys off the ground in a tight hug. “But that’s why we love ‘em!”

Chara wrapped an arm around Frisk and smiled. “You got that right!” Frisk smiled and leaned into Chara. Suddenly, The two humans made a face. Something was wrong.

“I just remembered, why did Sans leave so suddenly?” Frisk asked. Suddenly, the whole room went quiet. Papyrus and Mettaton tensed up, Undyne and Alphys looked nervous, and the two humans were confused. 

“L-let’s check the c-camera’s!” Alphys suggested. Mettaton nodded and began flipping through each footage on the monitor. There was nothing on any camera in Snowdin, Waterfall or Hotland. “Wh-where is he?”

“have you tried the ruins door?” Sans asked from behind.

“GOOD IDEA SANS!” Papyrus paused for a few seconds, before facing his brother. “SANS!!!!!!”

Everyone turned to the skeleton, face palming and groaning that they fell for one of his dumb tricks. “What was even the point of that?” Chara asked, to which Sans shrugged.

“You don’t even have a reason why you did it?!” Undyne bellowed.

“I can’t believe I didn’t see this coming…” Mettaton muttered.

“hey, forgeddaboudit. for real though, there’s something off about the ruins.” 

“Like what?” Frisk asked.

“Didn’t Toriel decide to leave the doors open?” Undyne asked. 

“well, yeah. except it still had that atmosphere about it. that tori was trying to stay inside. now it feels like it was left in a rush.” Sans explained.

“YOU MEAN...SHE FULLY LEFT THE RUINS?”

“feels like it.”

Chara’s eyes widened. “Crap…”

“What’s that reaction for?” Undyne asked. “Isn’t that a good thing?”

“It would be, except...I think we have another person for our sales pitch.” Chara said. “And I don’t know how she’ll react to the whole...Amalgamate, situation.” Everyone stiffened.

“OH...” Papyrus muttered.

“M-maybe we won’t have to explain that part!” Alphys stammered.

“She’ll want to know about how you found out about DT.” Frisk said. “I think we just have to hope that she’ll be on board with getting the other kids back to life.”

“I think the concept of necromancy isn’t something the queen is fond of.” Mettaton pointed out.

“Well...We just have to try.” Chara replied.

“and if she says no?”

“We do it anyway. The only other option is to wait for more humans to fall down, but I doubt anyone wants to do that.” Chara commented. When everyone made noises of agreement, he forced a smile. “Alright…Let’s go meet the Dreemurr’s.”

* * *

Everyone entered the throne room, and found it empty. Chara sighed and continued walking to the other door. “They’re probably at the barrier.” They all went through the door, and carefully approached the barrier entrance. The muffled sounds of a conversation could be heard. They entered the barrier room, and saw Asgore and Toriel, the latter berating the former on how all the monsters could’ve been freed sooner if he had taken just one SOUL before crossing the barrier to get six others. Chara rolled his eyes and cleared his throat. “Been there, done that. It’s not worth it, trust me.” Toriel and Asgore turned to face the audience. Asgore didn’t really react, but Toriel had looked like a deer caught in headlights.

“How long were you standing there?” Toriel asked.

“We just got here.” Undyne answered.

“Oh, okay then.” Toriel eased up a bit.

“Although we can still guess on what it was you were berating Asgore about, so you’re not in the clear.” Mettaton teased, earning an elbow from Undyne.

Toriel stiffened. “Oh...Well…”

“It’s fine.” Asgore said. “It’s something I’ve been quite used to hearing.” He shot a glance at Sans, who just turned away and whistled. Asgore chuckled to himself at the sight, and faced Chara. “So, I take it everything is fine now?”

[(BGM)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ub6S8jgS2G0)

Chara nodded. “Yep. In fact, we may have a way to break the barrier, without anymore dying.”

“What!?” Toriel exclaimed.

“R-really?!” Asgore began to tear up. “How?”

“W-well.-” Alphys stepped forward. “It’s gonna take a bit to explain.”

“I’m sure we all have time.” Asgore replied, shooting a glance at Toriel, who stood still.

“O-okay then.” Alphys took a deep breath. “It involves the DT experiments.” 

Alphys and the others began detailing the events, both from the experiment, and from Chara, Frisk and Papyrus’ little trek into the True Lab. Asgore listened patiently, nodding and occasionally gasping at certain pieces of information. Toriel had to ask for specifics on certain parts, which earned even more gasps or the occasional tear from her. The two sighed in relief at the aftermath of the amalgamates story. “I’m glad those fallen finally have the chance to be with their families again, but what does this have to do with the barrier?” Toriel asked.

“W-well, what I gathered from the experiments, is that DT reacts better with more...Physical, bodies. That’s why human SOULS persist longer after death-”

“Whereas with beings made mostly of magic, it has some...Unexpected side effects.” Asgore pieced together.

“Yep! But, Frisk had this theory a while ago.” Alphys replied. “She theorized that maybe, if the humans were still alive now, they could break the barrier, without any casualties.” Asgore and Toriel froze at the sound of that. Asgore seemed even more nervous to be standing next to Toriel. “Well...I guess what w-we’re trying to s-say is-”

“We think that, with what leftover DT is left from the experiment, we can bring the fallen children back.” Chara finished.

“You...Really think so?” Asgore seemed hopeful, but as predicted, Toriel was skeptical.

“How do you know this would work? Even if it does, how can you be sure that monsters won’t just attack them again? How can you be sure we will not end up back at square one?”

“WELL THESE TWO MADE IT HERE JUST FINE.” Papyrus said, pointing to Frisk and Chara, who made little poses. “THEY TRAVERSED THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND, WITH A TARGET ON THEIR BACKS, AND THEY MANAGED TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH SO MANY MONSTERS!”

“Yeah, we made friends with someone named MK, The Canine Unit, a few Hotland monsters.” Frisk started off the list.

“they made themselves out to be pretty good stars. after all, just look at the ratings mettaton got when the humans appeared on his show.”

“Heck, they managed to get Undyne to be their friend.” Mettaton said with a slight smirk. “And she was the biggest offender in trying to kill them.”

_“Wow...Ok, just, expose me, I guess…”_ Undyne muttered.

“Look, we came to try and stop another war from happening, and this is the best way so far to make sure that it never happens.” Chara said. “Even if we stopped gathering SOULS, and let the current ones pass on, any other human who fell down, would definitely not react kindly to hearing about that attempt.”

“And if the barrier did break, but the others were still dead, eventually, word would get out, and the aftermath...Would not be pretty.” Frisk added. “Please. Just let us try?”

Toriel looked at the two, before sighing. “I suppose that it would not hurt to try. And you two have made some pretty good friends, even if they didn’t start off that way.” Toriel glanced at the other monsters present. “I just need to know that nothing would go wrong.”

“Relax, Tori!” Undyne said, lifting Alphys off the ground. “Alphys won’t let anything bad happen!”

“Un-Undnye…!” Alphys blushed, before brushing it off. “Undyne’s right! I learned a lot from my mistakes. I can make sure not to repeat them!”

“That’s my Alphys!” Undyne gripped Alphys tighter. 

“Oh for crying out loud, will you two just kiss already?!” Mettaton cried out at the sight. “The audience is dying for some romantic action!”

“Wait, are you-” Undyne stammered at the sight of everyone besides Toriel looking at the two curiously. She growled.

“I-I mean, I’m not against it.” Alphys muttered.

“Wait...Really?” Undye looked over at Alphys, who nodded. “Huh...Okay!” Undyne began pulling Alphys closer to her, as the audience watched with bated breath, before Toriel decided to be a killjoy and break the two up before a kiss could actually happen.

“Wait! Not in front of the humans!” Everyone groaned and cried out in protest. Even Asgore was disappointed. 

“Come on, we worked hard on that!” Mettaton cried out in defeat. “We had a training regiment and everything!” He sighed, before his eyes widened. He smirked and looked over at the humans. “Well since that one is still being delayed.” He said, pointing to Undyne and Alphys. “Looks like we’ll have to rely on a different pair, wouldn’t you say so, darlings?”

“Eh?” Was all Frisk had to say, but Chara smirked. Apparently, he and Mettaton had the same idea. Before Frisk could catch up, Chara pulled her close and two were interlocked with a kiss, causing the coin to drop in Frisk's head, which led her to lean into it. The others present cheered on, with Mettaton and Undyne casted Toriel some smug grins as she looked on with wide eyes, while Asgore looked on with tearful pride. The two separated, but Frisk kept clinging to Chara. "Right... _Can't believe I forgot about that..."_ Chara chuckled and nuzzled Frisk's cheek with his.

Toriel blinked a few times, before breaking out of her trance. She cleared her throat nervously. “Well...I was not expecting that…”

“oh yeah, you weren’t there when that first happened.” Sans replied, grinning like a madman. “you should’ve seen grillby’s. the whole place was in a riot at the sight.”

“You should have seen the ratings I gained from that!” Mettaton added.

Toriel cleared her throat again, with a touch more nervousness. “W-well, it seems that there is a new barrier breaking plan, yes?”

“So we can try our theory?” Frisk asked.

“I suppose it would not hurt to try. Plus, you all seem very confident that it would work, and if that is the case, I see no reason why we should not go with it.” Toriel smiled. Everyone broke out into a celebratory cheer. While there were ways it could go wrong, the gang had a failsafe. They were determined to see this through.

“I guess the SOULS should be let out of those containers, yes?” Asgore asked.

“On-one way to bring them b-back is to give the SOULS to their ri-rightful owners.” Alphys said. 

“Then let us start!” Asgore smiled, and stepped up to the barrier, eager to bring the SOULS up. Unfortunately, the containers were empty as they rose to the top. “What?!”

“Oh no!!” Alphys cried out at the sight.

“The SOULS?!” Toriel covered her mouth in shock.

“They’re gone!” Undyne called out. The monsters gathered around the empty jars. Frisk picked one of them up, and inspected it. The lid wasn’t screwed on all the way. Suddenly, the memory came back.

“Flowey…” She muttered.

“FLOWEY?!” Papyrus echoed.

“Flowey?” Asgore also echoed.

Alphys’ eyes went wide. “The vessel…”

Suddenly, a giant vine broke through one of the walls, and through to the other side. Everyone was thrown to the floor at the force, as more vines came from the larger one, and wrapped themselves around the knocked over party. Mettaton, Undyne and Papyrus tried to fight them off, but with each vine that was cut, two more took it’s place. Eventually, everyone was lifted into the air, trapped by vines, and unable to move. Everyone, except Chara, who watched it all happen in a blink of an eye. A laugh rang out through the room, as a bigger, more colorful Flowey rose from the ground, with his usual grin.

“You IDIOTS!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dialogue's in this one were kicking my ass, but I finally got it done!
> 
> I watched a comic dub of Underswap Papyrus catching Sans about to drink a bottle of ketchup, and one of the comments wrote an Undertale version of Sans catching Papyrus about to drink a bottle of honey, and I just could not resist.
> 
> (Hoo boy...The next few chapters are gonna be wild.)


	53. Wish you were here, beauties!

Mettaton blinked. His visible eye went a deep dark purple, and only he could see the red blip in the upper right of his peripheral vision. If everyone could see their plight, then help would surely arrive soon. It was hard not to smirk at his own genius, but the Flower was too busy laughing to notice. Mettaton streamed the whole event to the underground, with a simple message. 

  
  
  


_**Wish you were here, beauties!** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What, you thought I involved Mettaton for no reason? Hell no! I needed some way to explain how all the monsters knew to gather at the barrier :)


	54. Strength of Will

“You IDIOTS. While you guys were having your little pow-wow...I ABSORBED THE HUMAN SOULS!!!” Flowey laughed

Chara huffed at the sight of the damn thing. “Didn’t you learn last time? They’ll just rebel again…”

Flowey hummed. “Maybe, but I realized something. I was getting too cocky. Enjoying the fact that I regained my power, that I forgot that I still needed one. Last. SOUL.” Flowey tightened the vines constricting Frisk. “Then, I’ll be able to do what ever I wanted.” Flowey chuckled.

Chara grew angry and began to summon his knives, but stopped as soon as Flowey tightened the vines on everyone. “Go ahead. Try and fight back. But just know that, if you do, I can’t promise that any of your buddies will make it out alive.” Flowey smirked.

“WHY ARE YOU STILL DOING THIS?!?!” Frisk cried out.

Flowey faced the captives, with his grin growing wider. “Don’t you get it? This is all just a game!”

“A GAME?!?!” Frisk grew angry.

“That’s right! A game! If you all leave the underground satisfied, then Chara “wins” the game.” Flowey made his menacing face. “And if he “wins”, he won’t want to “play” with me anymore. What would I do then?”

“You’re trying to kill Frisk...All because you see this AS A GAME?!?!” Chara yelled.

Flowey hummed in thought. “Y’know, you make a good point. Why settle for just taking Frisk’s SOUL? After all, there are the others.” Flowey grinned at Chara’s expression. “This is your own fault you know?” Chara’s anger grew, as well as Flowey’s grin. “They only came here, because you MADE them love you.”

“What do you mean I ‘MADE’ them love me?”

“All the time you spent listening to them, encouraging them, caring about them, without that, they wouldn’t have come here!”

“So, that’s our fault?! Because we chose not to be power hungry psychopaths like you?!” Frisk cried out.

“Don’t you get it!? You two had the power to bend the whole world to your wills, and you WASTED IT!!! FOR WHAT?! TRYING TO BE NICE?! TRYING TO BE HELPFUL AND KIND?!?!” Flowey cackled. “That gets you, nothing. Eventually you’ll find that it was a boring path to even begin with!”

“Stop acting like a child…” Chara growled.

“Why not? After all, that’s what I was before. Why stop now? Why let this game between us end? Why let you win?” Flowey snarled. “No. This will never end! I’ll keep holding victory in front of your faces, just within your reach, and then TEAR IT AWAY JUST BEFORE YOU GRASP IT. OVER AND OVER AND OVER…”

“WE ARE NOT YOUR GODDAMN PLAYTHINGS!!” Chara shouted.

Flowey chuckled. “Then how about this. Fight me. If you win, I’ll give you the ‘Happy Ending’ you want. I’ll revive the fallen children. You’ll break the barrier, and everyone will go free.” Flowey grinned. “BUT that WON’T happen. Why? Because you’re a coward. I gave you that chance, and you wasted it.” Flowey’s face inverted it's colors. “And I did promise, that I’d kill everyone you loved. Remember?” Flowey cackled as Chara’s anger grew. “I think I know just who to start with!” Flowey formed a ring of pellets around Frisk. 

That was the last straw for Chara. His eyes flashed red as he charged at the flower, initiating a fight with him. Flowey cackled, as he hurled the pellets at Chara, knowing full well, that threatening Frisk would give him the edge he needed. Flowey stopped when he heard the sound of the pellets being blocked. He opened his eyes, and saw Chara still advancing, eyes red as blood, wielding a...Sword and Shield? That was new. Flowey didn’t have time to ponder though, as Chara was rapidly closing the distance. He summoned some vines to try and slow Chara down, but all Chara did was slice them apart. Flowey scoffed. “Well then...I was hoping that you’d keel over from the pellets. _BUT IF YOU WANT TO DO THINGS THE HARD WAY…”_

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/wFLdpZtsOwg)

With a swipe of a vine, Chara’s SOUL went from Peach to Green. “Y’know, I wasn’t always like this.” Flowey said, creating a ring of pellets around Chara. “I just woke up like this. I couldn’t feel my arms, or my legs. At first, I was terrified.” Flowey set the pellets flying, and Chara used the sword and the shield to block each strike. He jabbed at Flowey, who dodged the strike, before burrowing underground and appearing behind Chara, once again changing his SOUL, this time to Blue. “Before long, D-Asgore found me. After I told him my situation, so many emotions came out at once.” Flowey swiped at Chara with vines, only for the human to expertly dodge and cut them with ease. “Grief. Guilt. Remembrance. Relief. All of those. All at once. He was happy to see me, but for some reason, I didn’t feel anything.”

Chara stared Flowey down, as the plant changed his SOUL to Cyan. “I wasted weeks on that old fool. Trying to feel something. But nothing...Nothing worked.” A wall of pellets closed in on Chara, most of which were blue. He avoided all them, moving for the orange pellets, and staying still for the white. Flowey tilted his head. “Huh, how’d you know to do that? Eh. You probably read it somewhere when I wasn’t at home.” Flowey’s face fell. “Eventually, I ran away. As far from New Home as possible. All the way to the Ruins. There, Toriel found me.” Chara’s SOUL went back to normal, as the flower unleashed a giant wall of green pellets for some reason. Chara raised an eyebrow, walking through all the healing pellets. “I thought that if anyone could make me feel something, it would be her. She was always great at that. But once again, for weeks, there was NOTHING.” Flowey went underground to avoid Chara’s slash.

When Flowey came back up, he changed Chara’s SOUL to yellow. “I was so confused. Why? Why couldn’t I feel anything for them? Why wasn’t I glad to see them? Why...Did they not help me FEEL?” Flowey sent wave after wave of pellets, to which Chara effortlessly shot down. Flowey was curious as to where this new found power from Chara came from. “So I left the Ruins as well. The only two people I thought would make me feel better, didn’t. At that point, why even bother?...I went to Hotland, and threw myself in the lava.” Flowey wrapped Chara with vines, turning his SOUL Purple, as he sent more vines to try and attack him, but Chara either slashed them, or jumped away. “Then, something happened. I thought to myself, ‘I can’t just die again. I just came back!’, and before I knew it, I was back in the garden. Asgore found me again, but had no memory of me. That’s how I discovered my power. MY power of LOAD. MY power of SAVE. And MY power of RESET.” Chara’s SOUL returned to normal, as Flowey summoned a ring of pellets around him. Blue, then Orange, and two more Blues. Chara passed through the attack flawlessly, and then his SOUL turned Orange.

“Ah, but look at me, ranting about my past. You must be tired. Here, let me help out. Just run into the green pellets!” At that, Flowey sent out a few green pellets towards Chara, who just walked away from them, glaring at the plant, who looked unamused. “Of course you’d figure that one out…” Before Flowey could make any other snappy remarks, Chara lunged at him, and tried to strike, it failed of course. Flowey grinned. “At first, I thought I could make a difference. After all, I could go back in time. I could make everything change, for the better. And I did. So many times.” Flowey once again surrounded Chara with colored pellets, however, the rules have been reversed, and it annoyed Flowey to no end that Chara knew about it. “I had helped Alphys out in the lab. I’ve helped Papyrus become a member of the Guard. I’ve helped so many people with their issues, so many times, in so many different ways. Eventually, it all got repetitive. I knew what was going to happen. Everytime. Soon, it pissed me off…”

Chara dodged each green bullet, making it a habit to get the white ones to heal. Flowey just couldn’t wrap his head around this. “So...I took my frustration out on someone. I killed them. And I felt no remorse. No guilt. But either way, I turned back time, undoing it, and they were none the wiser.” Flowey burrowed to avoid Chara’s slash. “Soon, it became a habit. To kill someone to let off steam. One day, I just couldn’t stop. I kept doing it, and I laughed. It was so much more exciting. It was a new experience. I like new.” Chara stared at the flower in anger, before making one last charge at him. Flowey burrowed, but when he resurfaced, he felt pain. He turned around, and saw that Chara had cut everyone free. Flowey’s first reaction was to try again, but Papyrus used his damned blaster on the larger vine. Soon, Flowey was surrounded by weapons. Asgore’s Trident, Undyne’s Spear, Mettaton’s Arm Cannon, and Papyrus’ Rapier. He saw Chara glare at him, before the human stumbled, and began to grip his head in pain. Frisk caught him before he collapsed on the floor.

Chara groaned. “F-Frisk…?” He looked up at Frisk, his eyes back to normal.

“Howdy!” Frisk smiled.

“How’d you…?”

“You helped us!” Frisk’s smile faltered. “You cut the vines…Remember?”

“I…I did?” Chara rubbed his eyes. “God, my head hurts…”

“Chara…?”

“I must’ve blacked out during it, because I don’t remember doing anything…” He leaned into Frisk. “But as long as you guys are safe…” He smiled.

Frisk smiled back, and wrapped her arms around Chara. Flowey became angry at the sight, but Papyrus’ voice turned his anger away from the two, for now. “NOW LISTEN HERE, FLOWEY! GIVE UP THE SOULS, AND SURRENDER. IF YOU DO, IT’LL MAKE EVERYONE’S JOB JUST A LITTLE BIT EASIER.”

“Can it, loser! You couldn’t kill me if you tried. And oh, have you tried. Most of them I even encouraged it!” Flowey stuck his tongue out.

“YOU LITTLE!!” Undyne slammed her spear into the ground, as Flowey burrowed away. He reappeared, just mere inches in front of the exit.

“I could leave right now. Get that final SOUL. RESET everything. But…” Flowey clicked his tongue. “I’m curious. What would all of you do, TO TRY AND STOP ME?!” Flowey bared his razor sharp teeth, before going back into the ground. Toriel managed to heal everyone, before the ground beneath them shook. Chara and Frisk immediately summon their weapons, dreading the next step.

“This is gonna suck.” Frisk said. As soon as the words left her mouth, two giant, leaf colored arms shot out from the ground, each having a set of red claws. Vines erupted from the middle, pulling a massive creature from the ground, and keeping it suspended in the air. The only thing that threw Frisk and chara for a loop, was that this version was fully plant-like, with the gaping, sharp toothed mouth that seemed to be made of some kind of stone. Six petals opened up, revealing Floweys face, before it split open sideways, into yet another mouth. This version screeched, instead of laughing. They were really in for it now.

“WELL…☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎…”

“language, paps…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *That was a risky move...
> 
> (Well, it worked didn't it?)
> 
> *It may have worked, but you still forcefully took control. Nobody was aware of you, and something like that could've had negative drawbacks. What if you had died? What if you were unable to give Chara back his control?
> 
> (I...I don't know, but nobody really said anything.)
> 
> *Wrong. Frisk noticed the change in weaponry. You're just lucky it reacted to Chara's own SOUL and not what was left of yours.
> 
> (Yeah. Yeah.)
> 
> *I'm serious. After the amount you sacrificed to save the others, you're lucky that possession didn't kill you afterwards.
> 
> (…So what happens now?)
> 
> *In short, the underground will help break the barrier.
> 
> (But how?)
> 
> *…
> 
> *Has anyone ever told you that you're impatient to a fault?
> 
> (Frisk. Like a lot of times.)
> 
> *Just, watch. You'll see soon enough.


	55. Rush

Frisk and Chara looked at the new form of Flowey, trying to hide their nervousness. If the form is different, the attacks might be different as well, and the last thing the two wanted was to die over and over again. Asgore and Toriel stood beside them, staring at the massive creature. “I don’t suppose we could ask the SOULS for help?” Asgore asked. “The flower said that they’d rebel again…”

“If they do, they’re lost forever. We’re gonna have to do this without their help.” Frisk replied.

“Will that be a challenge?” Toriel asked.

“More or less.” Chara replied.

Before another word could be spoken, Flowey unleashed a wave of vines to try and skewer those present. Asgore and Toriel quickly burned them to ash, both looking very pissed.

“No one attacks my children!” Toriel cried out.

“Or my people!” Asgore added.

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, and nodded. They took place in between the two boss monsters. Chara summoned a ring of knives around one hand, and a few balls of fire in the other. “You leave our family alone…” Chara growled. The giant plant laughed, before creating a ring of pellets around them. The royal family destroyed them with fire before they even finished forming, and Frisk rushed in and slashed at a few giant vines of the opponent. Flowey howled at the damage, and then broke out into a screech. The battle had begun.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/ro8taQxxzMw)

Chara released a wave of knives, as Toriel and Asgore’s eyes flashed, sending out waves of fire along with the spectral weapons. Flowey swiped most of them away, but was still hit as he was distracted by Frisk, who kept slashing at any and all possible vines. The beast grumbled, before wooden pikes shot out from the lower mouth. Frisk dodged most them, hit by others, but most of all was saved by Toriel, who set the wooden beams ablaze. Chara and Asgore stared Flowey down, as their eyes flashed blue and orange, before they lunged at the beasts arms, rendering them immobile to do more damage with their orange attacks.

Flowey screeched and sent out a wave orange pellets, which turned the SOULS of the opponents the same color, reversing the rules. He opened his deformed mouth, releasing a wave of razor sharp green bullets, which flew at the Dreemurr’s at a speed to make it difficult to judge where to dodge. The four suffered some heavy damage, but Toriel had just healed them like nothing happened. Flowey growled, and raised his sharp talons, swiping wildly at the family, raining down bullets all the while.

_“DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT’S IT LIKE…? TO TRY AND DESPERATELY CLING ON TO YOUR LOST SOUL? TO YOUR LOST EMOTIONS?! I HAD NOTHING!”_ Flowey screeched as he pierced the ground with vines, shooting them up from beneath his opponents. _“I COULDN’T FELL ANYTHING! NO HAPPINESS!! NO SADNESS!! NOTHING!!! I TRIED AND TRIED, BUT NOT EVEN MY OWN FAMILY COULD HELP ME!!!”_ The following demonic howl was deafening, as Flowey swung wildly with his claws, attacking with his vines in every sense he could and hurling wave after wave of pellets and bullets. The royal family tried to dodge it all. Tried to get rid of it all with fire and knives, but in the end, they were overwhelmed and brought down to their lowest HP. Flowey opened his mouth, and let out a bright beam of energy, aimed directly at the downed family. Once it was over, the flower paused. _“WHAT?”_

In front of the now healed family, stood Mettaton, who absorbed the blast. With a quick flip of his hair, he looked at Flowey, grinning. “OH YES!!!” Mettaton raised his arm cannon, and fired a powerful laser, directly at the large, gaping mouth, destroying the wooden pikes and sharp teeth. “Did you really think Alphys would just let me keep the NEO Cannon and Wings just for show? She had a feeling those programs would be useful, and with a quick style change, I can eradicate anything that threatens our hopes and dreams. Get ready darling, for you’re in the presence of-” Mettaton made a few glamorous poses, before his wings lifted him off the ground. He smirked at the flower, getting ready for the ultimate show. “METTATON NEON!!!”

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/FohpjE613hQ)

Flowey growled and shot out a wave of bullets. Mettaton flew around in circles to avoid them, before his right eye glowed red, and he raised his cannon. Balls of magical energy were shot out in a rhythmic fashion, as Mettaton flew up and down, left and right, forward and back to try and throw the flower off on where the attacks would land. “Flying suits me pretty well, don’t you think? Oh, what am I saying?” Mettaton snarled. “YOU DON’T CARE ABOUT ANYONE.” Flowey screeched as vines rapidly ascended towards the robot, only to be blown to bits by the small Metta-bots, throwing bombs. Mettaton patted one on the head. “Oh, and don’t think those SOUL changing tricks will work on me, weed. Alphys covered that issue AGES ago.” Mettaton smirked.

Flowey swiped at Mettaton with his giant claws, but the robot just flew out of the way, commanding a chainsaw to appear from his cannon. He descended to the massive claws, and ripped them apart with his chainsaw. Flowey howled in pain, before unleashing multi-colored pellets at the automata. Mettaton’s weapon glowed red, and with a simple swipe, a giant red slash raced towards them and the pellets disappeared. “I’m not sure if I quite understand the whole...Time Travel thing, but...How many times? How many times did you torment the innocent all for your sick game?”

Flowey let out a deep, gargled laugh. _“ALPHYS WAS ESPECIALLY FUN TO TORMENT, BUT TOO EASY TO DRIVE HER TO TAKE THAT PLUNGE…”_ Flowey’s arms healed, and he began to wildly swipe at Mettaton, taking out of his wings. Flowey cackled as he released a wave of bullets. Mettaton flinched as the smaller robots took the hits, before his eyes flashed in anger.

“YOU LITTLE…” Mettaton took a breath and composed himself. “I shouldn’t get too mad. That’s bad for my ratings.” Mettaton let out a dry chuckle. “Well then, since you want to take up the spotlight, let’s make this more interesting for you!” Two Metta-bots appeared behind the larger robot, as he lifted his cannon in the air, prompting the mini Metta’s to release beams of red and blue. Mettaton reflected the beams onto Flowey, making him purple, as he now had to travel up the purple beam to avoid the bolts of electricity and bullets. “You want to learn how to spark up a friendship?” Mettaton asked.

_“STOP TALKING AND FIGHT!”_

“Me neither. Well...Just not with you.” Mettaton laughed as he let out a blast of blue energy, with trails of electrical bullets, which would scatter with each shot. Flowey avoided them all, and retaliated with vines and bullets. With only one wing, Mettaton had a harder time dodging the vines, but thankfully, he could still swipe at them with his weapon, destroying them. Still, he took some damage, but he laughed it off. “What did I do to attract such aggression?” He chuckled before breaking out into a robotic cough. “Well, anyway, it’s time for a commercial break! Relax while we introduce our newest song, made by my dear cousin, Blooky!”

_“STOP TREATING THIS LIKE A SHOW!!!!”_

“It’s titled: [EXTERMINATION VIA SYNTHS](https://youtu.be/8hrYxDeMm4U)!!” Mettaton produced three row of purple beams, each one spiking in tune with the music that was now being played. Balls of magical energy, electric bullets, and more would crawl their way down the lines. Mettaton began to look low on energy, but he still had a smile on his face. The attack lasted about a minute, before it ended, and Mettaton chuckled. “Well...You’ve certainly got endurance…” His right eyes flashed. “Although, green isn't your color!” Before Flowey could respond, he became trapped, as disco balls emitted a blue energy all around him. “Blue is...More...Yo...u’re….sty…” Mettaton’s leftover wing failed to support him, as he was now running dangerously low on energy. The moment he collided with the ground, the disco balls turned off, and Flowey moved to strike, only to be enveloped in even more green.

_“OH FOR THE LOVE OF!!”_

Mettaton looked up at Undyne, who was carrying him over to Alphys. “Un….?” 

Undyne smirked, not even attempting to hide the worry in her only eye. “Dumbass. You used all your power.” She deposited him over to Alphys, who began adding a new power unit. “You had Alphys worried sick.”

“Al...ph….ys…” Mettaton looked up at the yellow lizard. “So...rry...About...That.”

“It-it’s fine! J-just don’t d-do that again!” Alphys said. Everyone crowded around Mettaton as Undyne marched over to the giant plant, two spears in hand, and anger filling her face.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/I5F-Jl26vUg)

“Just you and me now, punk!”

_“TOO BAD FOR YOU. I KNOW ALL YOUR TRICKS!!!”_ Flowey screeched, as the green aura around him dissipated. He jammed vines into the ground, whilst also having many of them fly towards Undnye, masking the many pellets and bullets he summoned as well. Undyne jumped up to avoid the vines from the ground, before summoning a hail of spears to pierce the ones flying towards her. She used the two in her hand to block the upcoming pellets and bullets. She struck down any vine that came from beneath her, and summoned spears to strike down the ones flying at her. She raised the weapon in her left at the giant plant, and snarled.

“I may not remember anything, but I can feel it. We’ve done this before.” She bared her teeth. “Because you killed everyone.”

_“NOT EVERYONE. BUT OH DID I TRY!!”_ Flowey cackled. _“THINGS KEPT GETTING MORE INTERESTING THE TIMES I DID DO IT!! BUT DO YOU KNOW WHY I DID IT?!”_

“Because you see all this as a game!” Undyne howled.

_“BECAUSE BEING NICE WAS BORING!! BECAUSE IT DIDN’T CHANGE ANYTHING!!! BESIDES, IT WASN’T LIKE I HAD TO FACE THE CONSEQUENCES…”_

Undyne roared as she lunged at the beast. A volley of spears appeared behind her, able to block out the sun. Flowey regained the green aura as the spears all flew at him. The teal and yellow spears he was all too familiar with, but something changed. Now there were magenta, purple, and orange spears flying at him as well. He’d never seen those. The magenta spread bounced away after he blocked them, but came right back for a second hit, while the orange ones would change their trajectory after being blocked the first time, and the purple ones circled around him before taking their shot. 

She wasn’t done. The green aura around Flowey dissipated, and Undyne sent wave after wave, volley after volley of spears. Flowey blocked them, or used his vines to dispel them, but the sheer amount she used caused him to take a good amount of damage. She leapt up into the air, summoning a giant spear in her hand, before descending back towards the weed, aiming for the mouth. Flowey smirked at the sight, and opened his mouth wide, revealing the six human SOULS. Undyne panicked at the sight of them, since the whole point of this was to get them out of Flowey intact. She quickly withdrew the spear, only to get slammed onto the floor by a vine. She stumbled her way back up, and glared at the beast. “Y-YOU…!”

_“WHAT’D YOU EXPECT? THAT I’D PLAY FAIR? NO, NO...I DON’T PLAN ON IT!! I’M GOING TO WIN THIS GAME!!! EVEN IF I HAVE TO FORCE THEM TO_ **_RESET!!!!!”_ ** Flowey unleashed a massive wave of bullets and vines that Undyne had to really think quickly. She summoned her spears and began blocking or cutting the vines and bullets away, and leaping in the air to avoid vines from coming out from the ground. However, on one of her leaps, Flowey quickly struck her with one of his claws. She tumbled to the ground, and Flowey made a point that she was going to die, with the amount of vines rapidly descending upon her. As per usual, Flowey was disappointed when he was stopped. This time, it was by two massive Delta Rune sentinels, which released a wave of blue, shredding the vines away. _“I SWEAR TO GOD, IF ONE MORE ATTACK IS INTERRUPTED…”_

“Th-that’s enough!” Alphys shouted. Undyne and Flowey looked at the small lizard, and Flowey howled with laughter.

_“AW, THE LITTLE TRASH CAN THINKS IT CAN STAND UP TO ME! I GUESS IT’S APPROPRIATE THOUGH. AFTER ALL, YOU MADE ME LIKE THIS!!!”_ Flowey let out a wailing scream, which in turn, released a hail of pellets. Alphys tapped a few buttons on her device, and one of the sentinels released a giant purple bullet, while the other let out a shimmering green light, which shone on, and healed Undyne. Alphys sighed.

“L-look, I know that this is all my fault. I should’ve let out a warning about you, when I found out you disappeared.” She rubbed her eyes, and when she looked back up at Flowey, a newfound strength showing from behind her glasses. “This ends now!”

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/qnfRcP3vqbE)

_“TCH! TRY YOUR BEST THEN!”_

“Want to sit back, or help out?” Alphys asked Undyne.

“Do you even need to ask?” Undyne smiled widely, as she resummoned her spears. Flowey was encased in the green aura once again, and Undyne let loose her spears, while Alphys tapped some buttons on her device, letting free a few Metta-bots, that circled around Flowey, releasing electrical damage as he blocked the oncoming spears. He sneered and tried to strike at the two, but was stopped by a field of electricity. Alphys pushed up her glasses.

“I’m not letting you hurt anyone anymore.” She tapped a few buttons, and the sentinels went red, and they let out a string of bullets towards Flowey. Undyne grinned and summoned a volley of spears to help out. Flowey groaned, and tried using pellets and bullets to hit them, but the barrier kept them safe. “How many times? How many times did you go back, just to hurt everyone?” One sentinel let out an orange beam, while the other would periodically let out a wave of blue. Undyne kept summoning a ring of spears around Flowey as it happened.

“No! Don’t answer that punk! And don’t even say you forgot!” Undyne growled. “An atrocity like you, doesn’t look like the type to forget!” Undyne surrounded Flowey in the green aura. This time however, Alphys got in touch with her cruel side, because the sentinels both released an orange beam, on a target that can’t fully move. “You’re the type of person who stops just to think about it!” Undyne cried out.

_“DO YOU THINK I WOULD’VE DONE THAT IF I HAD A SOUL?!”_ Flowey sent a vine through one of the sentinels, destroying it. Alphys began to slightly panic, which disturbed the electric field a bit. _“I DIDN'T ASK TO BE LIKE THIS!!! I DIDN’T ASK TO COME BACK FROM DEATH AS SOME LOVELESS TYRANT!!!”_ Flowey’s voice shook. _“BUT I DID ANYWAY!! I WAS BROUGHT BACK, WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!!! AND FOR WHAT?!?! JUST TO ACT LIKE A TOOL?!”_

Alphys flinched and stared up at the giant flower. “Wh-what?!”

_“DON’T DENY IT ALPHYS!!! I SAW THOSE TERMINALS!!! I SAW THE ENTRIES!!! I WAS BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE, JUST TO BE USED!!!”_ Flowey pierced the second sentinel. Alphys tapped her device and sent out a hoard of Metta-bots while Undyne unleashed her spears. _“AND NOT ONLY THAT!! AFTER YEARS OF BEING ALONE,_ **_HE_ ** _COMES BACK!!!”_ Flowey rapidly swiped with his claws to destroy every obstacle, and used his vines to dispel every spear. Undyne and Alphys just repeated the action out of desperation. _“AND THEN WHAT?! I GET REPLACED!?!? FORGOTTEN!?!?!”_ Flowey was really angry now. Undyne just growled, but Alphys began to hyperventilate. 

“W-wait...Y-you mean…?”

“Alphys?!” Undyne looked down at the scientist, who was now frozen in either fear, or shock.

_“WE BOTH COME BACK FROM THE DEAD, BUT I WAS THE ONE WHO GOT THE SHORT END OF THE STICK!?!?!”_ Flowey wailed. _“ME!?!?!? WHY!?!?! WHAT DID I DO TO BE THE ONE WHO SUFFERED THE MOST!?!?!?!?!?!”_

“Oh no…OH MY GOD!!”

“ALPHYS?!?!”

The electric field went down, and Flowey shot out the beam of energy. It lasted for quite a while, and the reflection it caused from the barrier was blinding. Flowey relented, and didn’t even budge at the massive cloud of smoke he caused. He gripped the walls with his claws, and began to march forward, clearly done with everything, and just wanted to end it already. A blue aura surrounded him, and he wasn’t even surprised anymore. The smoke dissipated, to reveal a busted up Gaster Blaster in the way of Undyne and Alphys.

“Y-you…” Alphys muttered.

“Holy shit…” Undyne spouted.

Flowey growled at the sight of the thing. The blaster dusted, to reveal the form of Papyrus from behind it. Flowey was not at all expecting him of all people. He was expecting Sans to be the one behind the blaster. Then again, the blaster was torn up enough that he didn’t see the difference. He slowly propped himself up on his claws, and stared Papyrus in his eye sockets, his eye lights flashing orange and green.

_“WELL...I WAS NOT EXPECTING YOU.”_ Flowey grinned. _“I THOUGHT YOU WERE GOING TO HIDE BEHIND THAT SMILEY TRASHBAG BROTHER OF YOURS, AS PER EVERY OTHER TIME!”_ Flowey cackled.

“THAT’S QUITE ENOUGH, FLOWEY.” Papyrus replied. “PLEASE...JUST STOP THIS.”

_“OH THAT’S RICH! IT’S NOT LIKE I HEARD YOU BEG THAT 1,000,000 TIMES ALREADY!”_ Flowey cackled, but Papyrus didn’t budge. _“I REMEMBER ONE TIME, WHERE-”_ Flowey stealthily made a vine crawl up near Papyrus’ left arm. _“I WAS TRYING TO BE NICE, AND TEACH YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF THIS WORLD. TRYING TO TEACH YOU, WHERE MERCY GET’S YO-”_ Flowey was interrupted by one of Papyrus’ blasters evaporating the vine he made. He screamed in pain, and stared at Papyrus in disbelief. _“H-HOW’D YOU…?”_

Papyrus sighed. “I DIDN’T WANT TO BELIEVE THEM AT FIRST. THOSE NIGHTMARES…” He took a few steps towards Flowey. “AT LEAST...THAT’S WHAT I CALLED THEM. NIGHTMARES OF YOU BREAKING MY ARM...FORCING ME TO FIGHT AT FULL POWER... _KILLING EVERYONE…”_

_“WAIT A MINUTE…”_

“BUT WHEN FRISK AND CHARA TOLD ME OF THEIR POWER...THE POWER TO SAVE AND LOAD...SUDDENLY, EVERYTHING CLICKED. AND WHEN I READ THE TERMINAL...THOSE WEREN’T NIGHTMARES...THEY WERE MEMORIES…” Everyone stared in shock. Asgore and Toriel were confused, but were startled by Papyrus’ sudden intervention. Mettaton was trying to wrap his head around what Papyrus was implying. Alphys and Undyne were still frozen over Papyrus’ rescue, and the humans looked on in horror at what Papyrus was saying.

_[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/M0wifumw9SE) _

_“YOU...REMEMBER…?”_

"ONLY A FEW BITS AND PIECES, BUT ULTIMATELY...YES..." Papyrus nodded sadly, before looking up at Flowey with a sense of urgency. “BUT DESPITE EVERYTHING THAT YOU DID...I KNOW THAT THIS ISN’T WHAT YOU WANT.”

Flowey hissed. _“AND WHAT DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WANT?! YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I’VE BEEN THROUGH!!!”_

“NO...I DON’T. BUT I KNOW THAT YOU HATE THIS.” Papyrus gestured to Flowey’s beastly form. “YOU HATE ACTING LIKE THE BAD GUY. YOU JUST WANT TO TELL EVERYONE HOW IT REALLY IS…”

_“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT…?”_ Flowey sounded more tired than anything.

“YOU HATE BEING A FLOWER. YOU MISS YOUR OLD FORM. YOU WANT TO TRY AND GO BACK TO BEFORE ANY OF THIS HAPPENED, BUT YOU COULDN’T. BUT IF YOU’D JUST...RELEASE THE SOULS FLOWEY. LET US TRY AND HELP YOU, LIKE WE’RE GOING TO TRY AND HELP THEM!” Flowey remained still. It was clear that he was considering it, before he sneered at Papyrus, and trapped him in a vine.

“PAPYRUS!!!” Undyne called out.

_“YOU STILL DON’T GET IT...MERCY. DOESN’T. GET ANYONE._ **_ANYWHERE!!!”_ **Flowey lifted the vine up in the air, aiming to slam it down onto the ground, but Papyrus broke free from it, summoning a barrier of bones to tear the vine apart. Papyrus landed gracefully on his feet, and summoned his rapier, assuming a battle stance.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/MB5xarDASME)

“FINE. A GOOD OLD FASHIONED BRAWL WILL SET YOUR MIND STRAIGHT. JUST DON’T EXPECT ME TO PLAY BY YOUR RULES, FLOWEY.” Papyrus kept Flowey blue, and summoned a row of bones that Flowey jumped over, only for Papyrus to change the course of gravity, holding Flowey on the ceiling upside down, as he did the same attack. “WITH THE PROPER GUIDANCE, ANYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON! I’M NOT SURE IF I CAN CHANGE YOUR MIND, AFTER EVERYTHING YOU DID...BUT THAT MAKES ME ALL THE MORE DETERMINED TO HELP SET YOU ON THE RIGHT PATH!” Papyrus set Flowey back onto the ground, and the flower tried to retaliate with more vines, but Papyrus blocked them with bones and blasters.

Flowey growled. _“WHAT MAKES YOU THINK YOU CAN HELP ME?!”_

Papyrus shrugged. “EXPERIENCE, I GUESS.” Papyrus returned Flowey to normal, and trapped him between two walls of bones, as he sent out a hail of sharpened bones. That shocked Flowey the most.

_“THOSE WERE SHARPENED YOU IDIOT!! IF YOU’RE TRYING TO TEACH ME A LESSON, WHY USE SHARPENED BONES?!”_

“WELL..” Papyrus scratched the back of his skull. “I AM KIND OF FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE HERE. BESIDES, THE TOUGHER THE LESSONS, THE BETTER THE CHANCES THEY GET THROUGH…” Papyrus then scratched his chin. “THAT SOUNDED BRUTAL...LET ME THINK OF HOW TO REPHRASE THAT.” Flowey snarled and attacked Papyrus, who dodged and blasted away any pellets, bullets or vines sent his way. Papyrus turned Flowey blue, and snapped his fingers. “OK, THINK OF IT LIKE THIS: SINCE YOU GO FOR THE MOST BRUTAL, AGONIZING WAYS TO GO ABOUT LIFE, THAT SEEMS TO BE THE ONLY WAY YOU TAKE IN INFORMATION. SO IN TURN, IF I MAKE MY LESSONS MORE BRUTAL, YOU’LL HAVE A HIGHER CHANCE OF USING MERCY. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE?”

Before Flowey could respond, Papyrus sent out a row of bones that moved up and down, with a blue bone periodically making the rounds. Papyrus flipped gravity around and repeated the action. Flowey screeched in anger. _“STOP TRYING TO CHANGE ME WITH YOUR STUPID IDEOLOGY!!! YOU CAN’T HELP ME!!! YOU CAN’T SAVE SOMEONE WITHOUT A SOUL!!! SO STOP TRYING AND FIGHT TO KILL!!”_ Flowey raised his claw and began to swipe at Papyrus, who just blasted the arm away. Flowey cried out in pain. 

“I’M NOT GOING TO STOP, FLOWEY. YOU MAY DENY IT, BUT JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE SOULLESS, DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T FEEL.” Papyrus released the blue aura, and created a single, orange bone. Flowey moved around in circles, as Papyrus periodically summoned a blaster to fire at the plant. “HUH. FOR A FIRST ATTEMPT AT THAT TYPE OF ATTACK, IT WENT PRETTY SMOOTHLY!” Papyrus cleared his throat. “I MEAN, JUST LOOK AT WHAT HAPPENED A FEW MINUTES AGO! YOU FELT SADNESS, ANGER, JEALOUSY AND HATRED. THAT MUST ACCOUNT FOR SOMETHING!!” 

Flowey released a beam of energy that Papyrus blocked with a blaster. _“WHAT DO YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS FEELING!??! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THAT ACCOUNTS FOR ANYTHING!?!?!?”_ Flowey screeched as he mindlessly attacked with his claws and vines, not even hitting Papyrus at all, due to him dodging, blocking or blasting away the attacks. Papyrus sighed, as he turned Flowey blue.

“FLOWEY, ACTING LIKE YOU ARE NOW...THAT ISN’T GOING TO SOLVE ANYTHING. IT’S ONLY GOING TO HURT PEOPLE!” Papyrus looked Flowey somberly. “AND IT DID...MANY TIMES OVER…BUT I STILL BELIEVE YOU COULD TURN AROUND! YOU CAN GO BACK TO HOW YOU FIRST BEHAVED!! WE CAN HELP YOU!” Toby came into view and Flowey jumped over the dog, very confused on why a dog was used as an attack but Papyrus just looked at the dog with a tired expression, before the actual attack came, which involved Flowey jumping over a select number of bones that spelled out ‘I BELIEVE IN YOU’ before the aura dissipated and Flowey had to move around in a certain manner for the bones to not hit him. He didn’t bother saying anything, and just summoned multiple rings of pellets around Papyrus. He blocked them all with bones.

“THIS CAN ALL END NOW!! JUST STOP FIGHTING AND RELEASE THE SOULS! THEN WE CAN WORK TOGETHER TO FIX YOU! I PROMISE!!” Papyrus withdrew his rapier, and held his arms wide open. “YOU JUST HAVE TO STOP! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!” Flowey responded by trying to break Papyrus’ bones with vines. Papyrus blasted the vines away. “OK, LOOKS LIKE YOU STILL NEED SOME CONVINCING. AND I KNOW JUST THE THING! _OUR_ SPECIAL ATTACK!”

_“STOP. TRYING. TO-”_ The coin dropped in Flowey’s head. _“WAIT._ **_OUR?”_ **

“don’t tell me i’m that forgettable.” Sans replied, walking from behind Papyrus. Sans wasted no time in starting the attack off, by slamming Flowey into the ground, before raising a wall of bones from beneath him. Flowey avoided the wall of bones, but Sans withdrew the blue hold on the flower to summon a wave of bones that could only be avoided by a small hole in the middle, but it just so happened to be too small for the beast. Sans summoned his blasters, first forming a slight square, then a cross, another square, and then two giant blasters fired from the sides. Papyrus turned the flower blue and summoned an attack similar to the one he used on Chara and Frisk, but the words spelled out ‘SANS AND PAPYRUS BEST AND COOLEST BROS FOREVER AND EVER’. Once those were out of the way, Sans threw Flowey against the wall, and then found him away from it into another wave of bones.

Flowey grunted with every hit he took, and he could see Sans and Papyrus following along atop a blaster, appearing every few seconds. It didn’t register to Flowey until he hit the wall that he was thrown around into a circle. He moved away from the eventual walls of bones, only to be countered by a sudden second wall. Sans threw the flower to the floor, and the two skeletons stood in front of the beast.

“WOWIE, WE NEVER REACHED THIS FAR BEFORE!” Papyrus said, holding up his right hand to reveal that it was replaced by a Gaster Blaster.

_“WHAT THE…?!”_

“i know. i wonder how powerful these’ll be.” Sans replied, scratching his left hand, which was also replaced with a blaster.

“ONLY ONE WAY TO SEE!” The two held up their hands, and fired away. Flowey retaliated by firing a blast of energy as well, and the three were locked into a beam battle. The others looked on, eyes growing wide at the sight.

“This has got to be the most anime thing I’ve seen since falling down here.” Frisk said.

“No kidding.” Chara replied.

Alphys and Undyne watched on with starry eyes, while Asgore and Toriel looked on in horror. “I didn't think they'd be capable of that.” Toriel muttered.

“Sans already rejected being part of the guard, however his brother seems like a perfect fit.” Asgore said. Too bad Papyrus didn’t hear that.

“That’s more powerful than my NEO Cannon…” Mettaton said in awe.

Sans and Papyrus didn’t say anything. This needed their full concentration. Since Sans didn’t fight till now, he was good to keep going for awhile, although Papyrus was starting to sweat from the battle. He couldn’t give up however! They couldn't give up! They needed to get through to Flowey! They needed him to stop fighting! Sans’ left eye light flashed Cyan and Yellow, while Papyrus’ eye lights flashed Orange and Green, which doubled their blaster's strength.

Flowey was beginning to panic. With the combination of Sans’ KR magic, and Papyrus’ own strength, if he lost, he could die in a flash, and lose the SOULS. If he lost to Sans and Papyrus, he would have lost the game. No. He can’t lose the game! If he loses, Chara won’t play with him anymore. He couldn’t let that happen. He didn’t want to let that happen. He REFUSED to let that be the outcome! He REFUSED to LOSE!! With a quick motion, he brought out the SOULS. They began to hover towards the beams. Sans and Papyrus panicked, and their hands retreated back for a split second, but a split second was all Flowey needed. In that instant, Flowey increased the speed of his attack, and the entire area was enveloped in a bright light. After a few seconds, Flowey stopped. He stared out at the cloud of smoke, and waited for the next big surprise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> combination of sleeping in, going shopping and having to describe all the actions delayed this one for quite a bit today...


	56. Don't Give Up!

Flowey waited as the smoke cleared, already preparing himself for whatever decided to block his kill attempts this time. What surprised him, was that, a) the blast went further than before, since Chara was lowering a wall of knives in the background. b) Papyrus stood in front of Sans, with his left arm extended out while his dominant hand laid limp beside him, with no barrier to block the attack from hurting him either and finally, c) the three grey figures that stood in front of the skeletons, each having the same scar pattern on their face. Two of them dusted instantly, with the one in the middle collapsing to their knees. They shakily raised their left arm up to their face, revealing some kind of rock in their hand.

“Your sons are safe. Just as we promised...Dr. Wing Ding Aster…” The figure spoke to the rock. After a few seconds, the rock disappeared from their hand, in some kind of glitchy way. The figure’s smile grew wider, as they started to chuckle. “Peace...At last….” The figure began to collapse to the floor, falling apart and turning to dust all the while. The brothers looked on at the scene, tears filling their eyes.

“he…” Sans gawked at the dust covered floor, before he felt his SOUL turn blue. He was flung all the way back to the others, and a wall of bones separated them from Papyrus and Flowey. “pap...papyrus?...”

Papyrus took in a few deep breaths, clutching his right arm, which was charred black from the blaster. “WELL...IT’S CLEAR THAT OUR SPECIAL ATTACK STILL NEEDS SOME ADJUSTMENTS.” He muttered, before breaking out into a smile. “BUT FOR A FIRST TIME EVER WITH THE BLASTER ARMS, I’D SAY IT WASN’T THAT BAD!” Papyrus sighed, and frowned. “SO...I CAN TELL...THAT FIGHTING BACK DID NOT CONVINCE YOU AT ALL…”

_“GIVE UP, PAPYRUS. NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO, YOU CAN’T CHANGE MY MIND. THERE’S NOTHING YOU HAVEN’T ALREADY TRIED.”_

Papyrus shook his head. “NO...THERE’S STILL ONE THING I HAVE YET TO TRY. THIS TIME...OF COURSE...I MAY FAIL. I KNOW THAT MUCH...BUT THAT WON’T STOP ME FROM TRYING!!”

“ _FINE THEN. WHAT IS IT? WHAT’S YOUR BIG, SPECIAL PLAN, TO TRY AND CONVINCE ME TO GIVE UP? TO TRY AND TURN MY MISERABLE LIFE AROUND? WHAT’S THIS ATTACK GOING TO BE? HUH?”_

“SIMPLE." Papyrus shrugged and stared Flowey down. "I’M NOT GOING TO ATTACK.”

Everyone gasped. “Papyrus, what are you doing?!” Alphys called out.

“PAPYRUS!! You need to fight back!!” Undyne shouted angrily.

“Papyrus, darling, I don’t think being a sacrifice is going to convince him to stop!!” Mettaton said with heavy concern.

Frisk went wide eyed and was full of panic. “What are you doing!!”

Sans' eye lights disappeared from his sockets, leaving them pitch black. “papyrus…”

Chara clutched his chest. “What are you…?”

_“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO ATTACK?”_

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/dl-JxScd_6M)

“I’M SPARING YOU. AND UNTIL YOU DO THE SAME, I WON’T STOP SPARING YOU.” Papyrus explained. “I BELIEVE YOU CAN CHANGE!! YOU JUST HAVE TO TRY!! I KNOW YOU CAN CHANGE AND I CAN HELP YOU TRY AND REGAIN YOUR ORIGINAL FORM, I...I PROMISE…” Papyrus teared up.

“Stop it...Stop promising that…” Flowey muttered softly. “STop MaKING Promises _YOU CAN’T KEEP!!”_ Flowey wailed as he unleashed a wave of vines and pellets. Papyrus dodged and blocked each strike, but didn’t use his blasters or bones to destroy the vines or pellets.

“I’M NOT GIVING UP HOPE. NO ONE DOWN HERE HAS GIVEN UP HOPE! NOW WOULD BE A TERRIBLE TIME TO START!! EVERYONE HOPES TO SEE THE SURFACE, AND I HOPE TO SEE YOU HAPPY AS WELL. WE CAN COMBINE THEM! YOU JUST NEED TO SHOW MERCY, AND TURN BACK FROM YOUR CURRENT PATH!”

Flowey cringed. “Mercy…? _MERCY!?!?!?! MERCY DOESN’T EXIST IN THIS WORLD!!! IT’S KILL OR BE KILLED!!!”_ Flowey screeched as he swiped wildly at Papyrus, summoning vines, bullets, pellets, blasting him with energy. Everything. And Papyrus dodged and blocked all of it.

“THAT’S NOT TRUE!!! IF IT WAS ‘KILL OR BE KILLED’ HALF OF US WOULDN’T BE HERE!! THE WAY I SEE IT, IT’S DON’T KILL, AND DON’T BE KILLED!” Papyrus cried out. “EVERYONE WANTS TO AVOID ANYMORE CONFLICT!! NO ONE WANTS ANOTHER WAR!!! WE HAVE ONE CHANCE AT A TRULY HAPPY ENDING!!! YOU CAN BE APART OF IT IF YOU-”

_“Shut up...shut up. Shut up shut up SHUT UP!!!!!”_ Flowey fired a beam, and swung crazily. _“THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A HAPPY ENDING!!! IF MERCY WERE SO POWERFUL, THAT ENDING WOULD’VE HAPPENED ALREADY!!! EVERYONE WOULD BE FREE, AND I WOULDN’T HAVE TO LIVE LIKE THIS!!!!”_ Flowey sent wave after wave of vines and pellets, and Papyrus dodged them, noticing that most of them missed on purpose. _“IF MERCY HAD WORKED, OUR PLan would’ve...Everyone would be free...And I wouldn’t have died…”_ Flowey began tearing up.

Everyone watched in awe as Flowey was starting to crack, but Chara began tearing up as well. “No...It can’t be….”

“Chara?” Frisk and Asgore muttered.

Toriel placed a hand on Chara's shoulder. “My child?”

Papyrus sighed. “FLOWEY…”

_“If mercy worked...Everything would’ve gone as we planned. Chara would’ve been buried at the field...Monsters would be free...I’d still be…”_ Flowey didn’t attack. Slowly, his massive form began to shrink, as he began to return to his normal state.

“FL...FLOWEY…?”

“My name...is n _OT FLOWEY!!!”_ In that instant, he regained his beastly form, and fired a massive blast of energy at Papyrus. When the smoke cleared, a wall of peach colored knives was slowly retreating back into the ground. Chara stood in front of Papyrus, tears rolling down his face, as he slowly lowered his arm back down..

_“That’s enough, Asriel...That’s enough…”_ Chara choked out. Everyone behind him gasped, and the two boss monsters began tearing up as well. Frisk slowly started to move towards Chara, as Flowey stared down at the human in shock, which quickly turned to indifference.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/-u4Kcay2Gjw)

“Tch. Now you call me by my name. _About time…”_

“How was I supposed to know it was you?” Chara chuckled, before going back into his somber tone. “This whole time…”

“Cram it…!” Asriel snapped, causing Chara to flinch. “Don’t act like you care all of a sudden!”

“Az…”

_“I SAID CRAM IT!!!”_ Asriel sent out a flurry of vines, but Frisk ran up in front of Chara and somehow created a shield to block the vines with. The vines dissipated, and Frisk took a ragged breath.

“Asriel...Stop." Frisk said breathlessly. "Papyrus is right. We can help you! We can fix things!”

“I don’t want to hear that from you!” Asriel hissed. “Why should I listen to you, _WHEN YOU CAUSED HIM TO REPLACE ME?!?!!?!?”_ Asriel lifted up one of the claws and brought it down towards Frisk, but a row of spears blocked it’s descent. He threw his hand back and looked at Undyne, who glared at him.

“I don’t know what kind of adventure you’ve been looking at, but if you think you were replaced by Frisk, then you must be pretty damn blind!” Undyne stood in front of the humans and Papyrus, holding her arms out. “In case you haven’t noticed, there’s a big difference to how he treats Frisk, then how he treated you. He told us his whole story of how he came back. If you think that Chara just decided to throw your memory away, then it’s clear who the real idiot is!”

_“YOU DON’T KNOW A DAMN THING ABOUT US!!!”_ Flowey swiped again, but two blasters pushed his hands back. Sans and Papyrus stood next to Undyne, ready to defend her and the humans with their life.

“listen here, princey. you can’t just go around acting like a sociopath, and then turn around and get angry when your bro doesn’t recognize ya. besides, undyne is right, there’s a difference in the way he acts with frisk.” Sans used his right arm to shove his left into his jacket pocket. “last time i checked, you two were brothers, not lovers.”

“Did you have to word it like that?” Frisk blushed.

“LOOK, ASRIEL, YOU BOTH WERE GONE A LONG TIME. YOU BOTH ENDED UP GETTING DIFFERENT OUTCOMES, WHEN GETTING REVIVED, BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOUR OPINIONS OF EACH OTHER CHANGE!” Papyrus put a hand over his chest. “IT’S CLEAR YOU STILL CARE ABOUT CHARA, AND CHARA CARES ABOUT YOU! YOU’RE STILL SIBLINGS! SURE, YOU MAY FIGHT, BUT THAT’S HOW THINGS ARE WITH FAMILY!” Papyrus glanced at Sans, who nodded in response.

Asriel clutched his head. _“STOP IT!!! YOU HAD NO IDEA WHAT IT WAS LIKE FOR ME!!! NONE OF YOU DID!!!!”_ Asriel summoned a ring of pellets to surround the group but a field of electricity stopped them from advancing. Alphys and Mettaton walked up and stood next to Sans and Papyrus. Alphys pushed her glasses up and took a deep breath.

“L-look, Asriel, I’m sorry things ended up the way they did. DT was a whole new experience for me. It was a whole new discovery and...I didn’t think something like that could happen. Monsters spread the dust of a loved one over their favorite possession, and it’s said they live on through that...I guess...I guess it didn’t occur to me that it was literal. If I had known, I wouldn’t have been so careless. I…”

“Alphys darling, don’t beat yourself up over it.” Mettaton muttered. “And Asriel, darling, you shouldn’t either. Alphys was just doing what she was told. Trying to find another means to break the barrier. None of the things that happened down there were done in ill intent. Everything was done for a good cause!”

_“YOU THINK I DON’T KNOW THAT?!??! I SPENT MULTIPLE RESETS WASTING MY TIME TRYING TO HELP THAT STUPID TRASH!!! EVEN IF THERE WAS A GOOD CAUSE BEHIND IT, IT DOESN’T CHANGE THE FACT THAT MY LIFE SINCE THEN, HAS BEEN NOTHING BUT_ **_TORTURE!!!!!!”_ ** Asriel screeched, and fired his beam of energy. Asgore blocked it with his trident, while Toriel healed any wounds that were caused. They looked up at their son, tears streaming down their faces.

“Asriel…” Asgore choked on his own words. “I’m so, so sorry this happened to you. Don’t blame Alphys for this. I’m the one who asked her for an alternate method to break the barrier. I’m responsible for what happened to the fallen...For what happened to you…”

_“STOP IT!!! I’VE HEARD THIS ALREADY!!! AND IF IT DIDN’T WORK THEN…” Asriel began to sob._ **_“ THEN IT WON’T WORK NOW!!!!”_ ** Asriel tried to use his pellets again, but Toriel had burnt them away.

“Asriel, please stop this madness!” Toriel cried. “We can help you! Just like Papyrus said! Just end this madness, and we can save you!”

Asriel screamed as he sent wave after wave of pellets, bullets, vines, and even swipes from his claws. All of them missed. _“STOP!!! YOU CAN’T HELP ME!!! YOU’VE TRIED AND FAILED!!!”_ He repeated the same attack pattern. _“IT’S NOT FAIR!!! WHY DID I HAVE TO END UP LIKE THIS, WHILE CHARA WAS PERFECTLY FINE!?!?!”_ Asriel lowered his head. _“WHY DID HE GET A CHANCE TO SET THINGS RIGHT!?!?! WHY DID HE HAVE TO TAKE MY POWERS AWAY FROM ME!?!?! WHY?!?!?! IT’S NOT FAIR!?!?!? WHAT GOOD HAS HE EVER DONE!?!?!?! HE DOESN’T DESERVE IT?!?!?!?”_

“Asriel…” Chara muttered.

**“IT’S NOT FAAAAAAIIIIIIRRRRRR!!!!!!!!”** Asriel screamed out as he sent a massive wave of vines towards the group. Suddenly, the attack was pinned to the ground by webs. Everyone looked on, as Muffet descended from the ceiling, sitting atop her pet.

“Ahuhuhuhu!!! Dearie, I don’t think attacking your family with the intent to kill is a very prince-like action.”

_“WHAT?! HOW’D YOU-”_

“Besides.” Mad Mew Mew said, stepping in from the entrance. “Don’t you think killing our friends would bring you on everyone’s shit list?” She tapped her wand impatiently.

_“WHERE’D YOU-”_

“Y-yo, if you wanted a friend, you just needed to ask!” MK called out, running into the room.

“MK?” Frisk called out to the monster.

“YO!!” MK waved at Frisk and Chara. “I saw Mettaton streaming this whole thing and thought, ‘Oh, man, I need to go help my friends!’”

“Mettaton did what now?” Undyne asked. The robot in question looked perplexed, before he remembered that he never stopped recording.

“Oh my...I didn’t mean to stream the whole fight! I meant to end it after we got free from those vines!” Mettaton scratched his head, as he ended the recording, returning his eye to normal. “It must’ve slipped my mind when the actual fight started.” He facepalmed. “No wonder help didn’t arrive sooner.”

“That’s why you ran out of energy so quickly!” Alphys gasped.

_“YOU...YOU…”_

Suddenly, monsters from all across the underground made their way inside the barrier. Each one calling out to Asriel, saying how it’s not too late to change, and that if he just gave them a chance, he could be saved as well. The noise was deafening. Frisk and Chara looked around, startled by the sheer amount of monsters present, but they looked at each other and smiled. This was the best course of action. Chara looked up at Asriel, and smiled.

“Look around, Az. Everyone here is holding out hope for you. Why let them down now?” Chara’s SOUL appeared before him. The barrier began to reflect it’s peach color, as it flowed throughout the room. Sans and Papyrus felt a strange sensation wash over them, as they took notice of their arms losing their burns. Sans even felt his own HP rise. What was happening? Chara looked down at his SOUL, and his smile grew wider. “Hope is what kept everyone going. Hope is what brought me back. So, the solution is pretty obvious, don’t you think?” Chara looked up at Asriel, and the effects of Chara’s SOUL spread even further. The cries of all the other monsters grew louder and louder. Asriel tried to block out the sound, but it didn’t work. “You need HOPE…”

“Asriel…” Toriel called out. “Look around. The entirety of the underground is here for you! Although the strength of every monster down here only equates to a single SOUL of a human, it is as Chara stated. Hope keeps us strong!”

“Please Asriel.” Asgore said. “Put an end to this!”

Asriel let his claws hang down. He looked over the large collection of monsters that had gathered at the barrier. The entire underground itself was here. He lowered his head, and spoke. “You’re right...Everyone is here…” He smirked, as vines erupted from beneath the earth and trapped every monster in sight.

“What the?!” Frisk cried out.

“No!” Chara shouted. The trapped monsters soon disappeared, leaving nothing but their SOULS in their stead. Asriel laughed.

_“THE IDIOTS!!! YOU JUST GAVE ME WHAT I NEEDED!!!_ **_ALL YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!!!!!!!”_ **The room was enveloped in a white light, as Asriel absorbed the SOULS of every monster in the underground. When the light faded. Chara and Frisk looked around the black space around them.

“What just…?” Frisk stopped. Her and Chara looked ahead, and saw one other person with them. A monster, a little taller than Chara, wearing a green sweater with multiple yellow stripes and black pants stood in front of them, looking over themself. They curled their fingers and chuckled.

“Finally...I was so tired of being a flower…” The monster began to lift they're arms over themselves, stretching and popping their back in the process. Frisk looked on in shock, while Chara began to tear up once again.

“You…”

The monster popped it’s neck and turned around. They were a boss monster… “Howdy, Chara!”

“So...This is-”

“The Prince of The Monsters…” Chara finished.

The goat monster before them smiled, before, in a blink of an eye, they changed form. They were taller, and wore a robe, similar to Toriel’s. Their horns were fully developed, curling behind their head and their eyes were blood red amidst a black background. Two black lines ran up their face, and they had a heart locket around their neck. The monster's smile turned into a smirk.

_“ASRIEL DREEMURR”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎  
> ✌︎ ☞︎☜︎☜︎☹︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ☜︎✠︎🏱︎☜︎👍︎❄︎✌︎❄︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 👎︎☜︎💧︎✋︎☼︎☜︎ ☞︎⚐︎☼︎ ✌︎ 👍︎☜︎☼︎❄︎✌︎✋︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☟︎✌︎🏱︎🏱︎☜︎☠︎📬︎
> 
> ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎ ☞︎☼︎☜︎☜︎ ☞︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ 🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎☝︎☼︎⚐︎🕆︎☠︎👎︎ 🏱︎☼︎✋︎💧︎⚐︎☠︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 👍︎☟︎✌︎☼︎✌︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☟︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ ✌︎ 💧︎☜︎👍︎⚐︎☠︎👎︎ 👍︎☟︎✌︎☠︎👍︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎❄︎⚐︎ ✌︎❄︎❄︎⚐︎☠︎☜︎ ☞︎⚐︎☼︎ ☟︎✋︎💧︎ 💣︎✋︎💧︎❄︎✌︎😐︎☜︎💧︎📬︎  
> ❄︎☟︎☜︎💧︎☜︎ ❄︎🕈︎⚐︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 💧︎☜︎☜︎💣︎☜︎👎︎ 👎︎✋︎☞︎☞︎☜︎☼︎☜︎☠︎❄︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ ☟︎✌︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💧︎✌︎💣︎☜︎ ☝︎⚐︎✌︎☹︎📬︎  
> ❄︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎ ☞︎☼︎☜︎☜︎📬︎
> 
> 🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎ ☞︎✋︎☹︎☹︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✌︎☼︎☜︎✌︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 🏱︎☜︎⚐︎🏱︎☹︎☜︎ ☞︎✋︎☠︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎✌︎☹︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎✌︎💧︎☜︎💧︎ ✌︎💧︎ 🕈︎☜︎☹︎☹︎📬︎ 🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎✌︎☹︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎💧︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ ☞︎✋︎☠︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 🏱︎🕆︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ ☜︎☞︎☞︎⚐︎☼︎❄︎📬︎
> 
> 👍︎☟︎✌︎☼︎✌︎🕯︎💧︎ 💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎📬︎ ✌︎💧︎ 💧︎🕆︎👍︎☟︎📪︎ ☟︎✋︎💧︎ 💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎ ☼︎✌︎✋︎💧︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎✌︎☹︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎📪︎ ☜︎✞︎☜︎☠︎ 🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✡︎ 👎︎✋︎👎︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎✋︎☪︎☜︎ ✋︎❄︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ ✌︎❄︎❄︎✌︎👍︎😐︎💧︎ ✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎👎︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ 👎︎☜︎☞︎☜︎☠︎💧︎☜︎ ✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎👎︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎✋︎☼︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎✋︎☠︎👍︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💧︎☜︎👎︎📬︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎📪︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎💧︎☜︎📪︎ 💣︎✌︎👎︎☜︎ ❄︎☼︎✌︎✞︎☜︎☼︎💧︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎☝︎☼︎⚐︎🕆︎☠︎👎︎ ☟︎✌︎☼︎👎︎☜︎☼︎📪︎ ✌︎💧︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎ 👎︎✋︎👎︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ 👎︎✌︎💣︎✌︎☝︎☜︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎⚐︎😐︎ 💣︎⚐︎☼︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ✌︎ 👌︎☜︎✌︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎📬︎
> 
> ⚐︎☞︎ 👍︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎💧︎☜︎📪︎ ☟︎☜︎ ✌︎☹︎💧︎⚐︎ ☝︎✌︎✞︎☜︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☞︎☼︎✋︎💧︎😐︎📬︎ ☟︎☜︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ 👍︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎✋︎👎︎☜︎☼︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☟︎🕆︎💣︎✌︎☠︎💧︎📬︎ ☟︎☜︎☼︎ ✌︎❄︎❄︎✌︎👍︎😐︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 👎︎☜︎☞︎☜︎☠︎💧︎☜︎ ☼︎✌︎✋︎💧︎☜︎👎︎ ✌︎💧︎ 🕈︎☜︎☹︎☹︎📪︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎ ☜︎✠︎❄︎☼︎✌︎ 👎︎✌︎💣︎✌︎☝︎☜︎📪︎ ✋︎❄︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ☟︎✌︎☼︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☜︎☹︎☹︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👎︎✋︎☞︎☞︎☜︎☼︎☜︎☠︎👍︎☜︎📬︎ 👌︎🕆︎❄︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 👎︎✋︎☞︎☞︎☜︎☼︎☜︎☠︎👍︎☜︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎☜︎📬︎
> 
> 🕈︎✋︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 🏱︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎☼︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ☟︎✋︎💧︎ 💧︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎📬︎📬︎📬︎❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎⚐︎☠︎💧︎❄︎☜︎☼︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☞︎✌︎☹︎☹︎☜︎☠︎ 👍︎☟︎✋︎☹︎👎︎☼︎☜︎☠︎📬︎📬︎📬︎☟︎✋︎💣︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ☞︎☼︎✋︎💧︎😐︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ 👌︎☜︎ ☞︎☼︎☜︎☜︎📬︎
> 
> 👎︎☼︎📬︎ ☹︎✡︎👍︎📪︎ 👎︎☼︎📬︎ ❄︎☜︎☼︎✌︎📪︎ 👎︎☼︎📬︎ ☼︎✋︎💣︎📬︎📬︎📬︎❄︎☟︎✌︎☠︎😐︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎📬︎📬︎📬︎☞︎⚐︎☼︎ 🕆︎🏱︎☟︎⚐︎☹︎👎︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎☼︎ 🏱︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎✋︎💧︎☜︎📬︎
> 
> 💣︎✌︎✡︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎☟︎☼︎☜︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎💧︎❄︎ ✋︎☠︎ 🏱︎☜︎✌︎👍︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎


	57. HOPES and DREAMS/BURN IN DESPAIR!

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/9vlfN-wtVkY) Chara and Frisk looked on as Asriel began to hover up in the air. His first attack was a standard fire attack that the two had already gotten used to, but the way Asriel kept smirking put them on edge, as Chara held on to his HOPE. Suddenly, Asriel lifted his hands in the air and cackled. He disappeared behind the light show created by the multitude of stars descending upon the humans from above. Chara took Frisk by the hand and guided her through all openings in between the star shaped bullets, before a giant star bursted, leaving nothing unscathed. The humans hovered their hands over their scratches, as Asriel came back into view.

“You know…” Asriel shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t care about destroying this world anymore.” He lifted his hands up in the air, as giant bolts of lightning struck the ground the humans stood upon. Chara once again guided Frisk through the attack, stepping back and forth between the spots the lightning hits. Chara looked up at Asriel.

“Ok, first of all, I know your entire move set for this!! You literally would not shut up about any of these attacks!!” Chara chuckled, before taking on a serious tone. “Why? Why are you doing this…?” Asriel shook his head and rolled his eyes. 

“It's as I said, this is all just a game." Asriel chuckled. "And after I defeat you and regain total control over the timeline…” Asriel smiled wickedly. “I’m just going to RESET everything!” Two swords appeared in Asriel’s hands, and he flew towards the humans and struck. Frisk blocked the attacks with her own weapons, and Chara dodged all the swipes. Asriel sneered as he clashed his swords together, created SAVE star shaped bullets that were easy to dodge.

“You mean…?” Frisk muttered.

“All your progress...Everyone’s memories, **_I’ll bring them all back to ZERO!”_ ** Asriel lifted his hands in the air, and lightning struck down yet again. **_“T_** ** _hen we can do it ALL over again.”_ ** Asriel rained down the stars themselves onto the humans. After the final star struck, the humans seemed to have strengthened their resolve. “And you know what the best part of all this is?” Asriel asked, before cackling and smiling like a madman. **_“You’ll DO it.”_ **Asriel extended out his left arm, as it took the shape of some kind of cannon. He aimed it at the two, and fired in multiple directions, each shot increasing in speed, before a bright light formed from within the mechanism. Asriel cackled as he took one last shot at the humans, releasing a powerful beam of energy. His arm returned to normal. “And then you’ll lose to me, again.”

Frisk and Chara dodged the swipes of the swords and bullets. Chara turned to Asriel, with a fire burning within his eyes. “Asriel!”

“And again.” Asriel’s arm once again turned into the cannon, and the two moved desperately to dodge the bullets and beam. Asriel cackled **_“AND AGAIN!!!”_ **Asriel rained down lightning, but this time, the two were separated when multiple blasts of lightning struck in between them. Chara hurried and pulled Frisk out of the way of the next few blasts of lightning. They were starting to run out of breath. “Because you want a ‘Happy Ending.’” Asriel once again called down the stars, but they increased in speed and number. The humans sustained quite a bit of damage, but their resolve, their HOPE healed them. 

“We’ve always wanted a happy ending, Az.” Chara called out. “For our friends. For our family. For everyone!” Asriel growled and called upon his swords, now striking at one of them twice or more, before slamming his swords together in a fiery explosion. Frisk and Chara were shot back a ways, but stood strong anyway. “We never gave up on that. **_I_ ** never gave up on that.”

“Because you’re weak.” Asriel’s arm turned into the cannon, but the speed was increased ten fold at the start. Frisk and Chara barely managed to dodge all the bullets, but the beam only helped create even more for them to dodge. “Isn’t that delicious? Your DETERMINATION. Your HOPE. The powers that let you get this far... **_THEY’RE GOING TO BE YOUR DOWNFALL!!!”_ ** lightning rained down from above. The humans looked up at the boss monster, not giving up just yet.

“They’re going to SAVE everyone…” Frisk replied.

“Mom, Dad, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, everyone. Even you, Asriel.” Chara added. “They kept us going, so we can SAVE everything...The monsters...The humans...We’re not going to give up on them!!”

Asriel facepalemd and growled. He stared the humans down, sneering. “ENOUGH!!! This timeline will be purged, and you CANNOT STOP IT FROM HAPPENING!!!” Asriel faded away, and in his place was a giant head. It looked like a dragon, goat hybrid, with horns curling from the top and sides. The eyes were hollow, and it’s jaw was completely detached, as it laughed a deep, coarse laugh. It opened it’s mouth wide, and everything around them collapsed. The floor, the walls, pillars, the ceiling. Everything was crumbling apart as a vacuum sucked the debris inside the beast's mouth. Chara and Frisk could barely fight against it, and were constantly hit with debris. The world was enveloped in a bright light, and when the attack ended, the two were hanging on by a thread. Asriel looked down on them and laughed.

“Even after that attack...You’re still insistent on standing in my way, Chara?” Asriel clicked his tongue and shook his head. “Tsk, tsk. I guess you really are something special. No matter. After all...I was only using a fraction of my power.” The humans looked up at the monster with wide, fearful eyes. “Let’s see what good DETERMINATION and HOPE is, against **_THIS!!!”_ ** The world was enveloped once again in a bright light, as Asriel began to grow in size. The humans shielded their eyes from the blinding visage, and cowered.

* * *

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/34_hLQV59tk) When they opened their eyes, there was nothing left. Everything was once again pitch black, and the two could only stare in horror at the enormous size of the monster before them. Asriel had grown to nearly twice the size of the underground itself, and was staring at one of his hands, which became giant claws. His grin grew wider, showing off more of his now razor sharp, jagged teeth. His body was replaced with a round orb, containing a heart inside, with a large spike replacing his lower half. His shoulders help up massive spikes, which each let free a huge glowing wing, which reflected what the world once was.

The two tried to stand up, but something held them down. They couldn’t believe the sight in front of them. The world itself was ending. Asriel stared down at them and laughed. **_“BEHOLD, MY TRUE POWER!”_ **He held up his hands in the air, and they bursted with energy, releasing a hail of magical energy shot towards the humans. They couldn’t do anything to stop it, and the two were reduced to ash by the energy.

Their SOULS appeared, and began to shake in the cold, dark, empty place. They both split into two, and were on the verge of shattering completely. But they didn’t. They stopped shaking and remained still. Neither of them could let it end like this. Not when freedom for the whole of the underground was within their reach. In a flash of light, both SOULS reformed.

***But they refused…**

The two found themselves back in front of the god before them. Asriel was cackling, and he stared the two down. **“I felt it. Your grip on this world slipping away!”** He cackled some more. **“I could feel your friends forget you. That’s good. Your life will end here, in a world, where no one even remembers you.”** Asriel raised his hands in the air, and once again, a hail of energy struck down the two humans and once again, their SOULS split into two, before reforming instantly afterwards.

_(But they refused…)_

Chara and Frisk faced Asriel once again, the monster smiling even more. **“Still, you’re hanging on?”** He chuckled. _**“Good, that attitude will serve you well in your next life. In a world where no one wants you!!”** _again, the two were struck down.

***But they refused…**

_(But they refused…)_

**“UR HA HA HA…! Still?! Come on! Show me what good HOPE and DETERMINATION are now!!”** Once more, the two were struck down.

_(You both refused. This time, you tried to reach your SAVE file before facing him again…)_

***You try once again, but to no avail…**

_(It seems that SAVING really is impossible…)_ The voice said, dejected.

The other voice chuckled. ***At least, SAVING the ‘GAME’ is, anyway…**

_(What are you…?)_

***But...With what little power you have left…**

  
  


***You three can SAVE something else...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (What do you mean, 'three?')
> 
> *They can SAVE their friends, you on the other hand, must SAVE the fallen children.
> 
> (I...)
> 
> *You witnessed their journey as well. You saw how they tick. You can do it...
> 
> (I...I'll try...)
> 
> *I know you will succeed. Good luck...
> 
> *Kris...


	58. SAVE THE WORLD

Chara opened his eyes and saw two figures standing before him. He could tell they were Toriel and Asgore, but their faces were obscured by a white flame. Chara took a few steps forward, and the lost SOULS sprung into action.

“This is for your own good.”

“Forgive me for this.”

The lost SOULS waved their hands, and a wall of flames made it’s way towards Chara. He dodged the attacks, and looked at the lost SOULS, with a smile. “I’m not going to fight you guys!” The lost SOULS tilt their heads. Something about that seemed familiar to them, but they brushed it off.

“No one will leave me again.”

“This is my duty.”

Chara dodged the circling flames, and once again faced the lost SOULS. “We can sit around at the fireplace. Telling stories. Eating Butterscotch Pie. Drinking Golden Flower Tea. Work in the garden.” Tears were filling his eyes. The lost SOULS trembled, their aggression slowly melting away.

“...”

“...”

“Mom...Dad...Please…” Chara begged. The lost SOULS flinched. The memories were flooding back.

Memories of first showing Chara around the underground, reassuring him that nothing bad would happen to him under their watch. Memories of watching Chara and Asriel play in the garden, memories of the two laying on the floor, drawing whatever it was that day that motivated them. Memories of watching Chara and Asgore work in the garden, making idle conversation of random subjects. Memories of watching Toriel try and help Chara properly bake a pie. Memories of Asriel wanting to celebrate the anniversary of Chara falling into the underground, and his idea of treating it like a birthday. Memories of seeing Chara’s expression when he found out, and how he cried at the thoughtfulness.

Memories of Chara’s death, only to soon be filled with the memories that were gained by Chara’s revival. Memories of seeing Chara alive again for the first time, and seeing their interactions with Frisk. Memories of getting the two of them new clothes, and...Memories...Of the two talking down Toriel...And Asgore, talking of how the four of them could be a family.

The flames dissipated, and the two boss monsters looked down at Chara, who was smiling up at them. He leapt up and tried his best to form a hug with the two. They smiled and knelt down, making it easier for the short human. Tears were running down everyone’s cheeks.

Toriel tightened her embrace. “Your fate is up to you now, Chara!”

Asgore smiled, in what felt like forever for the old boss monster. “You are our future!”

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes, and was met with two skeletons, with their heads encased in a white flame. They stared the human down, and leapt into action. Well, one did anyway.

“I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!”

_“just give up...i did.”_

Frisk wasn’t fully sure, but it sounded like he was sobbing as he said that, but she didn’t have time to ponder on that thought, because she had to jump in between the bones in order to not get hit. She stood still for the blue one, and jumped between the rest. She stared them down, and formed a smile. “What does a skeleton tile his roof with? SHIN-gles!” The shorter SOUL laughed, while the taller one grumbled, but Frisk could tell that he liked it.

“THEN EVERYONE WILL…”

_“why even try….?”_

Frisk jumped up between the bones, and stared the lost SOULS down. “Sans, Papyrus, this isn’t what you guys want. Sans, you just want to take a break, Sell Hot dogs, eat at Grillby’s. Papyrus, you just want to find someone who enjoys puzzles as much as you do! You don’t need or want popularity. You just wanted a friend. Snap out of it, and we can do all of that stuff!” Frisk threw her hands in the air for emphasis. “Sans, you can sit back and do nothing while me and Papyrus make a puzzle to try and confuse Chara with! Papyrus, you can make us all the spaghetti you want! I’m sure it’ll get better with each rendition.” 

The lost SOULS stood still. Frisk fought back tears and pulled them into a hug. “I love you guys! Our journey through the underground wouldn’t have been the same without your puzzles or your weird mystery junk!” Suddenly, the lost SOULS hugged her back, with their memories being restored.

Memories of pranking Chara the first time they met. Memories of all the nerdy stuff they did together, watching movies, talking science, discussing games. Memories of an unfulfilled promise, that really hurt both parties. Memories of seeing Chara alive and well, with another human. Memories of watching them throughout their journey, playing pranks, selling tickets to monsters for their performance, selling the two hotdogs, having two sets of explanations, and trying to stop them from proceeding, fearing the worst.

Memories of meeting the humans for the first time. Memories of being excited to find that some of them enjoyed the puzzles he had made, and the battle they had fought. Memories of hanging out, with them critiquing his spaghetti. Memories of him trying to talk Undyne out of fighting them. Memories of discussing the stars with Frisk. Memories of them coming to his house after their battle with Undyne, and memories of taunting Undyne to befriend them. Memories of him and the humans going over plans for his replacement body, and memories of the True Lab, and trying to help out as best he could.

Within these memories, for both of them, was the image of one lone monster. It turned to face the two, and smiled. They pointed at themselves, before crossing their arms over their chest, and then pointing at the two skeletons. Suddenly, the flames obscuring their faces dissipated. Sans and Papyrus looked at Frisk, and smiled.

“NO, WAIT, YOUR MY FRIEND!! I COULD NEVER CAPTURE YOU!”

Frisk smiled up at Papyrus, before Sans started ruffling her hair. She glared at the perpetually smiling skeleton, who just winked. “i’m rooting for ya, kid.”

* * *

Kris opened his eyes, and saw the dark void around him. He wasn’t sure if it worked. Then again, almost everything was a void now, so. He looked around and spotted two children standing next to each other, faces obscured by flame. One held a toy knife, while the other messed with their faded gloves. Those were the indicators for which ones Kris was dealing with. He walked up to the children, and they lunged forward, trying to strike at him. He dodged, and regained his footing.

“Guys, stop, this isn’t you!” He cried out. “You’re being manipulated, just like with that weird monstrosity Flowey became!” The SOULS hesitated, before making another strike. Kris dodged again, and glared at them. “Alex, I know you can snap out of this! I believe in you!” The lost SOUL froze in place. “And Cass, you can help! You don’t have to stand idly by! I know you don’t!” The other SOUL froze as well. Kris took a deep breath. “Alex, you’re a kid. Kid’s do dumb stuff. That doesn’t mean being reckless is who you are. Cass, you’re also a kid. That means you have the right to freeze up when you’re scared, but you hate that! You can help! Everyone will be happy to have your help!!” 

The lost SOULS gripped their heads, as the memories flooded back. Memories of first meeting Chara in the void, and offering up pieces of their own SOULS to give him a second chance. Memories of watching Frisk and Chara traverse the underground, making new friends. Memories of nearly losing their hearing every time Alyssa screeched when Chara and Frisk did something cute with each other. Memories of seeing Sam fade away, and fearing that it’d happen to them next. Memories of fading away, and seeing everyone’s sad expressions when it happened. Memories of promising to not let anyone else fade away.

The flames dissipated, and their SOULS appeared in front of them. Cass’ SOUL became orange, while Alex’s SOUL became blue. The two humans looked up at Kris, who smiled down at them. “So, my name is Kris.” He said, waving at them. “I know this may be a lot to take in, but I’m afraid I can’t really give a proper explanation.” Cass and Alex exchanged a glance, and then leapt up to hug Kris. He flinched back, not expecting that reaction at all.

“Thank you!” Cass said.

“You SAVED us…” Alex muttered. Kris smiled and patted them both on the head.

“SAVING you two is just the beginning.”

* * *

Frisk opened her eyes once again and found herself in front of a single lost SOUL. The SOUL summoned a spear, and turned Frisk green.

“All humans will die!” 

Frisk summoned her sword and blocked all the incoming spears. She faced the lost SOUL and offered her hand. “How about we make something together instead?" Frisk stared pleadingly at the lost SOUL. "Do you mind teaching me how to cook?” The lost SOUL seemed to want to do just that, before they violently shook their perpetually burning head.

“You’re our real enemy!” 

Frisk blocked more spears. She smiled at the lost SOUL. “How about we discuss this over some tea? Or maybe-” She raised her sword up at the SOUL. “You can teach me how to fight?” Her smile grew. The lost SOUL dropped their spear, the memories flooding back.

Memories of trying to kill the two children, just for their SOULS. Memories of clashing with the two children, only for them to decide running away was the best option. Memories of seeing them at her doorstep, offering friendship, despite all she did to them. Memories of burning down her house in an attempt at getting closer through cooking. Memories of discussing the fallen children at Papyrus’ place, after seeing one appear before them as a ghost. Memories of seeing the two humans try and help Alphys, and memories of them discussing a plan to break the barrier.

Undyne blinked and looked at Frisk, who was still smiling up at her. Undyne returned that smile, and pulled Frisk into a friendship suplex. “Well, some humans are ok, I guess!”

_“Tsundere…”_ Frisk whispered.

Undyne glared at Frisk. “What’d you call me?”

“Nothing!”

* * *

Kris dodged the kicks the lost SOUL sent his way, whilst also being on the lookout for the other one, who would try to bash his head in with their notebook. They were a deadly combo, and Kris felt as though he was just a tiny bit in over his head on this, but he had to keep trying. He faced the one with the notebook, and took a breath.

“Look, I may not fully understand what you’re going through, but trust me when I say, that it doesn’t matter what those assholes said to you. You’re fine just how you are. You don’t need to act like everyone expects you to!” That caused the lost SOUL to freeze up. Kris smiled, before nearly getting his nose broken by a ballet shoe brought him back to reality. He folded his arms, and stared the second SOUL down. “And look, sometimes, families don’t always work, but you shouldn’t take your fear out on others. You need to stay humble…” Kris started to hum a calming melody, which made the second SOUL freeze up. “Just sit back, relax, and sing a song.” He smiled. “Write a book. Do whatever it is that makes you guys happy.”

The flames dissipated from their faces, and their SOULS appeared before them. Alyssa’s was purple and Sam’s was green. Sam looked out at Kris, and raised an eyebrow. “What happened?”

“Long story short, my name is Kris, and I’m helping you guys out.”

“That doesn’t really-” Sam stopped themself when they saw Alyssa staring at them with tears in her eyes. “Oh..Alyssa, look, what happened wasn’t your-” Sam was interrupted by Alyssa tackling them with a hug.

“I’m sorry…” Alyssa sobbed. “I’m so sorry…”

Sam sighed, and returned the hug. “It wasn’t your fault…”

Kris looked on with a smile. _“Two left…”_

* * *

Chara looked on at the two lost SOULS. He sighed. “Alphys, me and Frisk are here for you. We got your back.” The lost SOUL fidgeted, while the other seemed somber.

“You hate me, don’t you?”

“I must get to the surface! For true stardom!”

Chara blasted away the Metta-bots, and faced the second lost SOUL. “Let’s bake another cake sometime! It was actually a lot of fun, even if I didn’t look like I was having any…” The second lost SOUL seemed prideful, and the other seemed to glare at them.

“I’ve got to keep lying.”

“The surface is where it’s at! This place is too small!”

Chara shot the bombs and then moved out of the blast zone. He made a quick heel turn and pointed at the two of them. “Everyone is here for you! Nobody blames you for what happened!” He said to one. “And think of your fans! Think of Napstablook.”

“Blooky…” Suddenly, the memories came back for the two.

Memories of watching Chara and Frisk through the cameras. Memories of trying to help them during Mettaton’s quiz. Memories of seeing them travel through Hotland, solving every puzzle she reactivated. Memories of them forgiving her, even after she made their journey through Hotland a mess. Memories of them trying to help her gain confidence. Memories of them reassuring her that the results of the experiment were an accident, and that no one would blame her.

Memories of them going through with his shows, even when they had many ways to bail out. Memories of them giving it their all when confronted at the CORE. Memories of them showing excitement for the idea of Blooky getting his own body. Memories of them helping him with Alphys. Memories of him taking them back to the resort to restock on their items, and helping him chastise Burgerpants for smoking in the restaurant. Memories of the conversations they’d had on the way to the throne room.

The flames dissipated from their faces.

“No! That’s not true! My friends like me! And I like you, too!”

“What am I saying? The underground is enough for me!”

* * *

“Your action was noble! Even if it didn’t have the results you expected, you sacrificed yourself for the good of an entire race!” Kris called out to the lost SOUL, who was trying to hit him with a frying pan. The second one kept trying to aim their gun at Kris, but would always stop when the other one got in the way. “And Clover, you didn’t do it on purpose! You were forced! But it’s over now! You spared everyone in this timeline!” The gun wielding SOUL began to tremble. The one with the frying pan seemed concerned. “Luke, you had the choice to either be selfish or selfless. You chose the happiness of an entire race, over your life on the surface!” The lost SOUL paused, taking in the memories. The flames dissipated from his face, and his SOUL took on a yellow color.

“Th-that’s right. I did the right thing!” A gunshot rang out. Kris clutched his arm, and looked at the second lost SOUL, who seemed angry.

“In my way…” The lost SOUL took aim again, but Luke stepped in front of the gun, causing it to flinch.

“Clover, stop! There’s no reason to fight!” 

“I have to...For-”

“For what?!” Luke grabbed the gun and tossed it aside. “Because Flowey said so? Clover...He was a prick. And you saw that.” Luke pulled the lost SOUL into a hug. “You didn’t hurt anyone in this timeline. You saw through Flowey. It’s over...Everyone’s safe…”

The lost SOUL froze. Suddenly, the flames dissipated, and their SOUL appeared before them, taking on a cyan hue. Clover returned the hug, and began to sob. _“I didn’t mean to…”_

“I know you didn’t.” Luke replied, slightly blushing. The two broke off the hug, and Clover patted the top of their head. Their hat was gone. Luke looked around and found it next to the gun. He picked up and dusted the hat off, before placing it back on Clover’s head with a smile. “Personally, I think you look just fine without the hat.”

“Y-you do…?” It was Clover’s turn to blush. Kris stepped nearby and cleared his throat.

“Save the flirting for after this is over.” Luke hid behind his frying pan and Clover pulled the hat over their face. Kris couldn’t help but chuckle. Soon the two fallen children disappeared, and Kris was left alone in the darkness. He put his hands on his hips and sighed. “Now what?” Kris looked over the tiny fragment of what used to be his SOUL. Maybe the darkness was playing tricks on him, because it looked like it was getting...Brighter? “Huh...Is that good?”

* * *

Frisk and Chara stood in the empty void. They had gotten everyone, hadn’t they? The two exchanged a worried glance. “We did get everyone, right?” Chara asked.

“I could’ve sworn we did…” Frisk replied, nervously rubbing her arm.

“Then...Shouldn’t we be back with Asriel?”

***Strangely, as your friends remembered you...It feels as though you're not done yet.**

“Huh?” Chara looked around, but couldn’t spot the owner of the voice.

Frisk went wide eyed and looked around as well. “Why does that sound…?”

“Frisk?”

***Something else is resonating within the SOUL. Stronger and Stronger.**

“I heard this voice back at the CORE!” Frisk exclaimed.

“The CORE?”

***It seems there is one last person that needs to be SAVED.**

“But…” Chara looked around wildly. “Who…?” As soon as Chara finished, the two were shifted away from their position. They were still in the void, but there was a new presence. Someone Chara hadn’t seen before. They were wearing an olive green jacket, with brown pants and red shoes. Their hair was tied up into a small ponytail, and they seemed fixated on something, not even paying attention to the new arrivals. _“Who’s that?”_ Chara whispered. He looked over at Frisk, who was tearing up, and covering her mouth with her hands. “Frisk…?”

“Frisk?!” The other person turned around at the sound of her name. A single, blood red eye was visible beneath the person’s hair. Hovering above their hands, was a small, glowing fragment, of a red SOUL. Frisk gawked at the newcomer, who was staring at them in disbelief. “You can...See me now…?”

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/e6gfpZrMgr4)

Chara and Frisk didn’t have an answer to that. Frisk ran up to Kris, and gave him a hug. Sobbing all the while. “You’re here…!” She tightened the hug. Chara carefully approached the two, and took notice of Kris’ expression.

“I’ve...Kinda always have been…” He said meekly.

Chara glanced around the void, and then cleared his throat. “Here in this void, or-”

“I’ve been with you guys. Throughout the whole journey.” At that, Frisk broke off the hug, and stared at her brother in confusion.

“What do you mean by that?” She asked.

“The other fallen children were able to watch you guys on your journey, because of their offerings of their SOUL pieces.” Kris pointed to Chara’s SOUL. “They were seen and heard by Mettaton, Napstablook and Papyrus, due to how big their pieces were, and due to the fact that...They actually fell down here…”

“Wait, you mean you-”

“That final piece that fixed your SOUL.” Kris interrupted. “Your theory was correct.” He smiled.

“Theory?” Frisk asked.

“When we were on the surface, and visiting his grave.” Chara started. “I made a small theory that the final piece that finished my SOUL was from him.” Chara looked down at the floor. “I guess I...I don’t know. I think I wanted some kind of reason...Some kind of...Validation for liking you like I did…”

“Chara…” Frisk walked up to him, and gave him a small peck on the lips. “You’re your own person... Just because you have pieces of other people's SOULS, doesn’t mean you have their thought process.”

“She’s right.” Kris spoke up. “You may have gotten it back from the help of others, but it’s still your own SOUL.”

Chara gave a small smile, and then turned to Kris. “So...No one could see you?”

“The only other person who actually saw me, was that...Gaster person...I’m not sure how I feel about him.” Kris admitted. “Bastard’s too damn cryptic.”

“You get used to it.”

“Maybe…” Kris stared at his fragmented SOUL, and back at Frisk and Chara. “I think I know why you guys are here.”

“Why?” The two asked.

“He wanted you guys to see me. Maybe for the last time…”

“What…?” Frisk’s eyes widened.

“This small fragment...It’s all I have left.” Kris explained. “I don’t think I’ll last much longer…”

“Wait, what happened to the rest of your SOUL?” Chara asked.

Kris chuckled. “How do you think the fallen children reclaimed their missing pieces?”

“Kris…” Frisk began to tear up again.

“It’s for the best. My story ended when I died. All I did was narrate the shit you guys did when I was bored.” Kris chuckled.

“So this is it?” Chara asked. “You’re just going to…”

“I’ll be fine…” Kris smiled. “Worry about yourselves. You still have one person left to SAVE.” The two looked at Kris, before giving their own smiles. The three came together in a group hug, and Kris began to fade away. “SAVE him…”

“We will.” Frisk said.

“We plan on it.”

“Good.” Kris broke off the hug, and began to walk away. He paused after a few steps and looked back. “Hey Chara.”

“Yeah?”

“Treat her well. Okay?” Kris smiled.

“Of course!” Chara smiled as well.

  
Kris let out a small chuckle, as he faded away from their sights. **_Good…_ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 👎︎⚐︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎ 🕈︎⚐︎☼︎☼︎✡︎  
> ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎🕯︎☼︎☜︎ ✌︎👌︎⚐︎🕆︎❄︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👌︎☜︎ ✌︎ 🏱︎✌︎☼︎❄︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 💧︎⚐︎💣︎☜︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  
> ✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎  
> ✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎  
> ✋︎☠︎❄︎☜︎☼︎☜︎💧︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎  
> 📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> ✋︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 🏱︎🕆︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎💧︎ ✞︎☜︎💧︎💧︎☜︎☹︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 🕆︎💧︎☜︎  
> ✋︎ ☟︎⚐︎🏱︎☜︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☜︎☠︎☺︎⚐︎✡︎ ✋︎❄︎
> 
> 😐︎☼︎✋︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎


	59. SAVE Asriel

Frisk and Chara found themselves back. Face to face with Asriel once more. The giant monster was clutching his chest, breathing heavily. He looked at one of his claws, which were shaking like crazy. He glared at the two humans and growled. **“What...What did you do…?”**

“We SAVED them Az.” Chara replied. He took a step forward, and sighed. “Az...Stop. This game has gone on long enough. Let it end…”

Asriel clutched his chest even harder. He seemed fearful, yet...Also quite sad. **“What’s...What’s this feeling…? What’s happening to me?”**

“It’s you realizing that you only did this, because you missed your friend.” Frisk replied. “That you needed him…”

Asriel clutched his head. **“No! NO! I don’t need ANYONE!!”** Asriel lifted his hands in the air, and the magical energy flowed towards the humans, in a massive number. This time, they barely did anything but scratch up their clothes. They dusted their outfits off, and looked up at Asriel.

“Asriel, just stop.” Chara took a few steps forward. “You don’t need to do this...And like Papyrus said, you don’t _WANT_ to do this.” Chara began to take another step, when Asriel howled at him.

**“STOP IT!!** **_Get away from me!!”_ **He lifted his hands in the air again, but the magic was limited. Asriel was holding back, and the two knew it.

“Asriel...That’s enough…” Frisk stood next to Chara. The two held each other's hands, as Asriel closed his eyes, trying to stop himself from tearing up.

_“Chara...Do you know why I’m doing this? Why I keep fighting to keep you around…?”_

“You’re lonely. You were the only one for a long time.” Chara replied. Asriel nodded solemnly.

_“You’re special, Chara. Y’know that? You were the only one who understood me…”_ Asriel choked on his own words. _“You were the only one that was fun to play with…”_

“That’s not your only reason…” Frisk said. “It’s not the true reason…”

Asriel sighed. _“No...It’s not…”_

“Then what is…?” Chara asked,

Tears were flowing from Asriel's eyes. _“I’m doing this...Because I care about you, Chara. I care about you more than anyone else…”_

“Az…”

_“I’m not ready for this to end...I’m not ready for you to leave…”_ Asriel curled his claws into fists. _I’m not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again…”_

“You don’t have to say goodbye!” Frisk cried out. “You can-”

**_“STOP IT!! STOP DOING THIS...AND JUST LET ME WIIIINNNN!!!!”_ ** Asriel opened up his palms, and shot out a massive beam of light. The attack burned through the humans SOULS, but they stood strong, and rode it out. **_“STOP IT!!!!”_ ** Asriel increased the power of the attack. **_“STOP IT NOW!!!!”_ ** Throughout it all, the two stood strong, barely even flinching anymore. With a scream, Asriel ended the attack, and began to crumble. _“Chara…”_

“I’m here, Asriel...We both are…” Chara replied.

Asriel’s massive form crumbled further, letting free his previous form, collapsing onto his knees, with the wings slowly retreating away. _“I’m so alone...Chara…”_ The two humans walked up to Asriel, and knelt down in front of him. His body began to crumble away, as he curled up on the floor. _“I’m so afraid…”_ The form began to fade away, showing Asriel’s true self beneath it, curled up into a ball, sobbing. _“Chara...I...I….”_ The form melted away, revealing the goat monster beneath it fully. Asriel was sobbing into his sweater sleeves. Frisk and Chara scooted closer, as Asriel began wiping the tears away. _“I’m so sorry…”_ Asriel sniffed and looked at the two humans with a sad smile. “I always was a crybaby, wasn’t I, Chara…?”

Chara let out a small chuckle. “Looking back, that was kind of hypocritical of me to say…I wasn’t any better…”

It was Asriel’s turn to chuckle. “Yeah. It kinda was…” He smiled, and then frowned. “I’m sorry…”

“Stop apologizing…” Frisk said. “If anyone else was in your position...They’d probably do the same thing.”

Asriel sniffed and glanced at Frisk. “R-really…?”

“Are you kidding? If I was in your position, and my brother was in Chara’s, I’d have tried to do way more than what you did!” Frisk let out an innocent smile.

“If our roles were switched, I’d definitely find myself doing the same.” Chara said, also smiling.

Asriel laughed. “Good to know I’m not the only one…” He sighed. “I haven’t felt this way in a long time…” He frowned. “I hurt so many people…”

“Az…” Chara muttered.

“With everyone’s SOULS inside me...I not only regained my own compassion...But the compassion of every other monster as well…” Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance. “They all care about each other so much…”

“Well that’s a given…” Chara chuckled. Asriel followed along, before going back to his serious tone.

“They also care about you, Chara. And you too, Frisk…” Asriel winced at the mention of her name. “Geez, I completely ignored you that entire fight...Didn’t I…?”

“Eh.” Frisk shrugged. “I’m used to it…” Chara leaned into her.

“Still it was wrong!” Asriel cried out. “I may have been trying to kill you, but I still could’ve at least acknowledged you were there!”

“It would’ve felt nice to have been included.” Frisk replied jokingly. Everyone laughed at their conversation. 

Asriel clutched his chest, and sighed. “It’s not just you guys either. Cass, Alex, Alyssa, Sam, Luke and Clover. Everyone, in some form or another, whether they met them or not...Everyone is concerned over them…”

“Well, they were integral for our barrier breaking method.” Chara said. “But more than that, they’re friends…”

“I know. Papyrus really misses them…” Asriel chuckled. “I was so mean to him and Clover…”

“Papyrus has a big heart.” Frisk said. “He’ll forgive you!”

“We can’t promise anything with Clover though…” Chara sighed.

“That's fine…” Asriel looked up at the ceiling. “Monsters sure are weird. Everyone barely knows you...And yet I can tell that they really love you two…” He sighed, and stood up, facing away from Frisk and Chara. “I...I understand if you two can’t forgive me either...If you hate me…” Chara looked up at Asriel and stood up. He walked over to his brother, and playfully jabbed him in the arm. “Ow…!”

“Those are my lines...Az.” Chara said.

“What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb.” He replied. “We both know I wasn’t a saint. I got us into trouble, both at school and with Mom and Dad, I would rope you into my stupid schemes and plans…” Chara sighed. “I got you killed…”

“Chara, that was-”

“If I kept my mouth shut, you would’ve been back at the mountain. Back in the underground.” Chara interrupted. “Instead, I opened my stupid mouth, and made you tense up.” Tears were forming in Chara’s eyes. “If anyone is going to hate anyone, you should be hating me…God knows I deserve it…” Frisk stood up and tried to put a hand on Chara’s shoulder, but he shook it off. “That doubles for you, Frisk…”

Frisk and Asriel looked at each other. Frisk sighed, and wrapped her arm around Chara’s. “Look...Whatever happened with you in the past...Whatever mistakes you made...I don’t care…”

“W-what…?” Chara looked back at Frisk.

“I don’t care. Because that was in the past. It’s like with Alphys and the amalgamates. They ended up like that, because of an experiment that went wrong. An experiment, that was fueled by good intentions. Your plan...It was made with the intent to do good. That’s all that matters to me.” She pressed her head against Chara’s. “That you tried to do good…”

Chara didn’t respond. He just let the tears flow from his eyes, and let his head remain still. The two stayed like that for a solid five seconds, before the constant smug stare they were getting from Asriel killed the mood. Chara glared at his brother. “Why are you so smug about this?”

Asriel shrugged. “I guess Flowey just didn’t have the emotional capacity to feel smug at his brother getting a girlfriend.” At that moment, the two humans blushed. Asriel suppressed the urge to chuckle at their plight.

“It’s…Um...W-well…” Chara was at a loss of what to say.

“I mean...We haven’t even had a first date yet, so…” Frisk tried to salvage the situation.

“Doesn’t matter. My bro’s got a girlfriend, and I am enjoying every second of it!” Asriel declared, as if he had won a match.

“Well then, I’m glad you feel that way, Mr. I’m Going To Use My Brother’s Drawing As My Final Form…” Chara replied, causing Asriel to sweat bullets.

“You...Noticed that…?”

“Kind of hard not to notice when my idea is being stolen, Az.” Chara snarked.

Frisk looked between the two, very confused. “Um…”

“You see, the last form we dealt with was just some random sketch I made one day, when I was 11. It didn’t have anything to do with Asriel’s ‘Self Insert OC.’”

“Chara…” Asriel whined.

“Wait, his what…?”

“The form he used when he did the attacks with the lightning and stars, that form was a self insert drawing he made called, ‘The God of Absolute Hyperdeath’...That’s how I knew his attack patterns.” Chara explained. Asriel covered his face with his ears, while Frisk giggled.

“That’s adorable!”

“It was meant to be threatening!!” Asriel cried out. The two humans laughed at his plight. Asriel huffed. “You’re right, Chara. I don’t forgive you.” He turned away and folded his arms dramatically.

Chara chuckled even more at the sight. “Az…”

“Nope…”

“Come on, I was just getting you back!” 

“Don’t care!”

“Asriel, please.”

“I am forever ignoring you!”

Chara stared at Asriel for a few seconds. “You’re not doing a very good job at it…” Asriel turned around and glared at Chara. “I speak the truth Az.”

Asriel sighed, and then chuckled. “Okay...So maybe I stole your idea…”

“And used it for something unrelated.”

“But let’s not distract us from the more pressing issue.” The two humans looked at each other. “I can’t keep these SOULS inside me...The least I can do is return them…”

“Wait...Does that mean you can bring back the fallen children?” Frisk asked. Asriel nodded. The two humans beamed. “Chara, we can break the barrier!!”

“I know!!” Chara smiled widely.

Asriel cleared his throat. “Well...If you want, I can kill two birds with one stone.” The two looked at him. “I can return the SOULS to everyone, and revive the fallen children...But I can do that...And break the barrier as well.” Their eyes widened.

“Y-you can do that…?” Chara asked. To which Asriel nodded. Chara’s eyes began tearing up again, and Asriel chuckled.

“Man...You really were a hypocrite.” He smiled.

“I know I am!” Chara chuckled. “So...You’ll…?”

“Of course! You might want to shield your eyes though. This might get bright.” Asriel took a few steps away from the two, as they got ready to cover their eyes. Asriel held out his arms, and began mouthing a chant. He lifted up into the air, as the six human SOULS circled around him, before every monster SOUL followed suit. A blinding flash of light soon filled the room, and the sound of glass breaking echoed throughout.

***At long last...The barrier was destroyed…**

Asriel touched the ground, as Frisk and Chara looked at him with hopeful eyes. He smiled. “It’s done. The barrier is no more.” The two let out a cheerful cry, and gave each other a tight hug. Asriel looked at them happy, before his face fell. “There is a drawback…” Chara and Frisk stopped, and looked at him. “Without the SOULS...I won’t be able to stay like this…” He looked at the two solemnly. “Soon...I’ll turn back into a flower.”

Chara walked up to Asriel, and pulled him into a hug. Asriel tensed up at first, unsure of what to say. “We said before...We can help you…” Chara broke the silence. Asriel’s eyes began to tear up, and soon, Frisk joined in.

“He’s right. We still plan on helping you, if you decide you want it.” Asriel began to sob quietly, as he returned the two’s hug.

_“Ha...Ha...I...I don’t really want to let go…”_ He muttered.

_“Me either…”_ Chara replied.

_“Or me…”_ Frisk joined in. 

The three stood there, wrapped up in a group hug for what felt like hours. Asriel was the first to break it off. He rubbed his eyes on his sweater sleeve, and smiled at the two. “I...I’ll consider the offer. Until then…Watch after Mom and Dad for me...Okay?”

“Of course.” Frisk replied.

“Always planned to. Especially Dad…”

“Especially Dad…” Asriel echoed. The world was enveloped in a bright light, and Asriel disappeared from their sight. Soon, the humans closed their eyes, and braced themselves for the aftermath.

* * *

A young child laid lifeless on the Golden Flowers below the hole in the ceiling. They were adorned with a green jacket that had two lighter green stripes, with a plain black sweater beneath it. Dark brown pants, with shoes of the same color. Their dark grey hair slightly blowing in the gentle breeze caused from the hole. Suddenly, they twitched. The child propped themselves up, and began to stand. They glanced at the flowers, not even questioning how they broke their fall. They walked down the corridor like nothing was wrong, and entered the next room. Inside, was a pretty cranky Golden Flower, trapped inside a pot.

“I knew I was going to turn back into a flower, but I was under the impression that I would at least have a few more hours before Flowey came back…” The flower grumbled. “Worst of all, I get stuck in a pot! I mean, Where’d this thing even come from?! How am I inside of it already?!” The flower groaned. “I haven’t even been Flowey for a minute, and I’m already being tortured again.” The flower sighed. “Well...At least I have a small portion of my SOUL back...So, there’s a plus…”

The child didn’t seem phased by the concept of a talking flower. They just casually, and very quietly, approached it. They knelt down next to it, considering their next words. “Um...Asriel?”

“Huh?” Asriel turned around, and saw a human. His beady eyes widened. “Oh, a human! Odd timing, but never better. Just walk to the very end of the underground and-” The coin dropped in his head. “Waitwaitwait...Did you just call me...Asriel?”

The child looked confused. “That’s your name...Isn’t it?” They scratched their chin. “Or...Should I call you Flowey in this form?”

“How about you tell me how you know, _EITHER_ of those names?!”

The child rubbed the back of their neck. “Well...You _DID_ just call yourself Flowey a few seconds ago…”

Asriel paused. He raised a leaf and pointed it at the child. “Ok...You got me there, on that name, but how’d you know my real name?”

“Um...I just...Knew…” The child looked uneasy.

“But _HOW?!”_

“I don’t know!!!” The child shouted. “I just woke up on the bed of flowers, and I just...Knew where I was…”

Asriel looked at the child with a puzzled expression. “You…?”

The child sighed. “I know that we’re in the Ruins, and that if I kept walking, I’d get to Snowdin Forest, and then Snowdin, then Waterfall, then Hotland and then-”

“Let me stop you right there.” Asriel raised a leaf to simulate him shushing the child. “So...You know the underground...What’s the surface like? Did monsters already leave? Has it been that long?”

The child looked nervous. “Um…”

“I’m asking, if monsters are on the surface now.” Asriel summarized.

“I...I don’t know…”

“HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW WHAT’S ON THE SURFACE?!”

“I just told you, I WOKE UP ON THE BED OF FLOWERS!!”

Asriel inhaled. “Which means you have fallen down here, meaning you came from the surface. The only reason you’d wake up on the bed of flowers would be if you…” Asriel paused. “Um...I, uh…”

“What’s wrong?”

Asriel cleared his...Throat? “Well...Most people who fall down here...Fell down to…” He looked up at the child. “I’m guessing…”

“Um...I don’t know?” The child responded.

“Orphanage, then? I know Clover was in one, but they jumped down to play hero.” The child shook their head, whilst their confused expression deepened. “Do you not...Have any memories of the surface?”

“I know about...The trees...And the stars. And that humans occupy it...But I can’t tell you anything specific. About the surface...Or…” The child sighed, and hugged their knees.

Asriel looked at the kid, and exhaled. “Look...I’m sorry for yelling at ya...And for...Bringing up the sore subject, but...If you hardly know anything about the surface, how do you know about the underground?”

The child shrugged. “It just...Feels like I’ve been down here before...That I’ve seen you before…”

Asriel brought his leaves together, and made a thinking face. “So does that mean you know…” The world turned monochrome. “About that?” Asriel pointed a leaf at the child’s SOUL.

The child looked at their SOUL. It was an icy blue color, with red taking up a portion of the middle. “This is my SOUL. The very culmination of my being. It starts off weak, but if I gain a lot of LV, Levels of Violence, it’ll grow stronger.”

_They even know about LV...What is this kid?_ “So you know that...How about...THESE!!” Asriel sent out a row of pellets towards the kid, but they dodged them. He sent more, and they dodged them. He sent one last wave of pellets, the kid ducked underneath them. “Ok...What about…” He created a ring of blue pellets around the kid, and they stood completely still for them. “These?” He did the same thing, with orange and the kid moved their feet around so they wouldn’t get damaged. Asriel sent a wave of green pellets towards the kid, and they swiped them all up. Asriel ended the fight, and looked the kid in the eyes. They were the same color as their SOUL, with their pupils taking on a blood red look. Asriel couldn’t help but stare at the slight scar the kid had over their left eye. “How…?”

The kid shrugged. “I’m not so sure...But it feels...Familiar.”

Asriel huffed. “Well...Maybe Alphys could explain it…” He looked around, and then back up at the kid. “Listen, I’m not going to tell you where to go, since you seem to have that covered already, but...Mind taking me with you?”

“Do you want to see them…?”

Asriel eyed the kid suspiciously and then nodded. “Yeah…”

The kid smiled. “Then I’ll be glad to help...Um...Do you-”

“What?”

“Um...Should...Should I call you Asriel...Or Flowey?”

He tilted his head back and forth. “I think Flowey works best at the moment.”

The kid picked up the flower pot and smiled at Flowey. “Alrighty then! Onward!” The kid began moving out of the room and into the starting portion of the Ruins. All the puzzles were finished so it was smooth sailing. Flowey looked up at the kid and cleared his throat.

“If you don’t mind, I have a couple more questions…”

“Shoot.”

“Well...Not that it matters much to monsters, but, eh...Pronouns?”

The kid hummed in thought. “Well...I can tell that I was born a male...But at the same time...I don’t feel like anything…” They stopped walking and looked down at Flowey. “Does that make sense?”

Flowey shrugged about as much as a flower could. “Monsters never really worried about stuff like that. If someone says they’re a boy or girl, then they’re a boy or girl. Most monsters don’t even pay attention to that stuff and stick to ‘they/them’ or 'it/itself'…I was just curious is all…”

“Oh…”

Flowey hummed. “But, uh, what makes you the most comfortable?”

“Probably they/them…”

“Then that’s what you are.” Flowey smiled, which led the kid to smile. They continued walking. “Second question: How old are you?”

“Um...I think ten?”

“You think?”

The kid shrugged. “I feel like I should be older…”

“Oh, so you’re the mature type.” Flowey surmised. “That’s natural then...Final question: What’s your name?”

“My name?” The kid sounded surprised, and yet, very uncomfortable.

“Oh...Is...Is that something else you don’t know?”

“Huh? Oh...No, I know my name...It’s just…” Flowey looked at the kid concerned. The kid sighed. “It just...Feels important...Somehow...Like having it, gives me a purpose...Y’know?”

“Can’t say that I do…”

The kid chuckled. “Fair.”

“So...Your name?”

The kid held Flowey up to their face, and smiled. “My name is Kris!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Meanwhile, in an alternate universe
> 
> 📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> 💧︎⚐︎📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ✞︎☜︎💧︎💧︎☜︎☹︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 💣︎✌︎👎︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎✋︎❄︎ ☺︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> ☝︎⚐︎❄︎ 💧︎❄︎⚐︎☹︎☜︎☠︎📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> 👌︎✡︎ ✌︎☠︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎ ✞︎☜︎☼︎💧︎✋︎⚐︎☠︎ ⚐︎☞︎ 💣︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎
> 
> ☟︎🕆︎☟︎📬︎📬︎📬︎  
> ☠︎⚐︎❄︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 🕈︎⚐︎☼︎☼︎✡︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎✏︎  
> ✋︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ☝︎⚐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 👎︎✋︎💧︎👍︎✌︎☼︎👎︎ ✋︎❄︎ ✌︎☠︎✡︎🕈︎✌︎✡︎✏︎  
> ☹︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎✡︎ 💣︎☜︎✏︎  
> 🕆︎☠︎☞︎⚐︎☼︎❄︎🕆︎☠︎✌︎❄︎☜︎ ☞︎⚐︎☼︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎📬︎  
> 👌︎🕆︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎🕯︎💧︎ ☟︎⚐︎🕈︎ ☹︎✋︎☞︎☜︎ ✋︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎


	60. Reunited (1/2)

Chara slowly opened his eyes. What met his gaze was the grey ceiling of his room of New Home. He blinked. When was the last time he woke up to this image? No matter. He sat up and looked around. There was a pile of sleeping bags on the floor, about six, and Asriel's bed appeared to be unmade. Chara squinted at the sight, before everything came flooding back. The events at the barrier, the fight with Asriel and most importantly-”The barrier...It’s broken!”

Chara shot out of his bed, and made his way to the door. It was very quiet for some reason. He stepped out into the empty hallway and looked around. No one was in the living room, and he didn’t hear anything in the next few rooms. “I swear to god if they left without me…” He made his way to the kitchen, passing by the stairs and front door without paying them any heed. That was a mistake, as two figures slowly crept up behind him. The floor creaked at their step, and Chara turned around. His vision was blurred by the two small children, who had jumped him. He collapsed to the floor from the weight of the two. Their laughter was loud and full of life. Chara pushed them off after a while and glared at his two assailants. “Listen here you-” He paused when he realized, the two children in front of him were Cass and Alex. The latter stuck his tongue out at Chara.

“Killjoy.” He muttered.

“To be fair you two…” Frisk called out, stepping away from the kitchen. “You did just attack him when he was tired.”

“We didn’t attack him…” Cass whined.

“It sure felt like you did!” Chara chuckled. “So...It worked…”

Alex sprung up to his feet. “We’re ALIVE!!! Feels nice.” Alex sniffed the air. “Something smells good.” 

Chara didn’t really focus too much on the smell, but now that Alex mentioned it, something did smell good. “What is that?” He held a hand up for Frisk to help pull him up. Cass and Alex rushed to the kitchen while Frisk and Chara walked at a leisurely pace. Toriel walked out of the kitchen, holding a freshly baked pie, but it wasn’t a Butterscotch pie, nor was it a Snail pie. Chara tilted his head, as Toriel smiled at him.

“Ah, good! You’re awake!” Toriel set the pie down on the table. “We...Have much to discuss.”

“Like what?” chara asked, sitting down at the table. Frisk joined him, and began to tap her finger on the table nervously. “Frisk…?”

“Well, the thing is, Chara…” Frisk started.

“They remember everything…” Luke finished the sentence, standing in front of the kitchen entrance. “About Flowey...And the RESETS”

Chara felt a pit in his stomach. “Oh…” Chara looked ahead at nothing. Everyone else looked at each other with worry, before Chara patted his stomach. “Let’s...Eat first...Please…”

“Of course, my child…”

* * *

Sam leaned against Alyssa, staring up at the crystals above. It wasn’t hard to see why the monsters liked them so much. Without the real stars, these were the next best thing. Sam looked across the room, at the hidden wall. Despite what happened, Sam had no qualms about passing through that door to get to the wishing room. Alyssa on the other hand, was a sobbing mess. Sam sighed, and looked back up at the crystals. “It wasn’t your fault, Lys...I was the one who freaked out on you…”

Alyssa just slouched. Sam huffed and turned Alyssa around so they could face her. Tears were still falling down from Alyssa’s eyes. Sam clutched her shoulders and took a breath. “I was the one who misinterpreted what you said.” Sam tightened their grip on Alyssa’s shoulders. “You were all worried about me, but I was too stuck in my own goddamn angst, that…” Sam fought back a tear. “The point is, don’t blame yourself, Lys...What happened...It was my fault…”

_“Sam…”_

“Look at Undyne. Chara and Frisk _KILLED_ her, yet she knows that they only did it, because she was trying to kill them first. She attacked Frisk when she tried to show mercy, and everything she did during their fight was...Awful. Undyne doesn’t blame them for killing her, because she did it to them so many times, with a smile on her face. She’s planning on apologizing when she sees them again.” Sam took a shaky breath. “She’s not holding them accountable. And they aren’t going to hold her accountable. They both made stupid decisions.” Sam began to sob. _“I’m not going to hold you accountable for me freaking out. So you shouldn’t either…”_

Alyssa took Sam’s hands off her shoulders, and held them gently. “Sam...I…” She closed her eyes and pressed her head onto Sam's. The two remained still. “I know I shouldn’t...And I know you shouldn’t either…”

_“I know…”_ Sam's voice was barely audible. They looked up at Alyssa, mentally cursing at the fact that they’re the same age, yet she was a head taller than them, and stared into her eyes. Somehow, the constant blue of Waterfall complimented the ballerina’s emerald green eyes well, giving them a teal undertone. Sam blushed slightly.

“Sam…?” Alyssa noticed the blush on Sam, and was a little concerned. Sam responded by taking a deep breath, arching their head up, and leaning into Alyssa, giving her a kiss. It was gentle, yet passionate. The kiss lasted for about a minute, before Sam finally parted, with a small smile forming on their face. Alyssa was frozen.

Sam saw Alyssa’s expression, and their smile began to falter, and their blush almost covered their entire face. “Um...I know that was sudden but...I’ve been thinking about it for a while, after I faded away, and spent the rest of the journey stuck in a jar, I realized you were only concerned about me, and then I started thinking about how you would act while in the Ruins or Snowdin, and even then you were really caring, and while the squeal you made whenever Frisk or Chara even so much as brushed up against each other was a bit annoying, it was also kinda cute and…” Sam stopped and noticed that Alyssa still hadn’t budged, and only had a slight blush on her cheeks. Sam's face went red. “C-Come on! At least say something!” Sam began to wish that they didn’t leave their scarf in the Ruins, because they needed something to hide behind now. “Lys, please! This is embarrassing…”

A smile began to form on Alyssa’s face, as her eyes began to expand and shine amongst the small gemstones littered throughout. She leaned down and pulled Sam into a tight hug, which nearly knocked the air out of their lungs. The only sounds Alyssa could make were small squeals of joy. Sam smiled at the sound and returned the hug.

* * *

“You do know those are made with spiders...Right?” Flowey said, watching in disgust as Kris chowed down on a spider donut without a care in the world. “What am I saying...Of course you do…”

“It’s really not that bad.” Kris said with a mouthful of donut.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full Kris.”

Kris swallowed their current bite of spider donut and looked at Flowey meekly. “Sorry…”

Flowey huffed. “I swear you must be one of the worst humans to fall down here as of yet.”

Kris stammered before the words came to their head. “All I did was eat with my mouth open!”

“You took two pieces of candy from the bowl Kris!" Flowey shot back. "Two! Like some kind of barbarian!”

“It was a sign, not a cop!” Kris protested.

“That shouldn’t matter! It said ‘Take one’ and you took two!!”

“I’m starting to wish you didn’t have that SOUL fragment.” Kris deadpanned.

“So me wanting to murder you would be better than me judging you for your sins?”

“Judging my sins is Sans’ job.”

“That’s...Fair…” Flowey conceded. He tapped one of his petals with a leaf, and sighed. “How much do you know of him?”

“He pulls pranks on people, tells puns, works multiple jobs yet doesn’t put any effort into them, he’s secretive, and the only thing he did right on that promise with Toriel was keep Chara and Frisk fed.”

“Okay, you know quite a bit abo-” Flowey felt a drop of liquid on his petals. He looked up and noticed that Kris was crying, without them even acknowledging it. “Kris...You’re crying…”

“Huh…?” Kris wiped their left eye with their thumb, and looked over the liquid coating. “Guess I am…”

“Why are you so calm about it?”

Kris shrugged. “I didn’t even notice till you pointed it out to me...Why was I crying…?”

“You don’t even know…” Flowey muttered. “I swear, every time you open your mouth, the more questions I have, and the less answers I want!”

“At Least Flowey is willing to seek them out…” Kris responded. 

Flowey was taken aback by the comment, but let out a small chuckle. “Yeah, you got me there…”

* * *

Undyne picked at the noodles Alphys gave her. The thought of what she did to Chara and Frisk before they managed to actually find the correct method. If she was told straight on, she wouldn’t have believed it, but after seeing As-Flowey’s memories, and seeing all the terrible things she did to Frisk and Chara, she was left questioning why they decided to undo what they did.

“Undyne?” Alphys called out to the fish, but she didn’t answer.

Even if Undyne didn’t do all those things, what she did do was attack Frisk when she tried to show mercy to her. She attacked someone who didn’t want to fight, just because they were human. It made sense for them to fight back in those previous timelines. Undyne sighed, and banged her head on the table. _“I’m a terrible person…”_

“Undyne, that’s not true…”

“It _IS_ true Alphy...I attacked Frisk, who wasn’t even trying to fight back, and what I saw in those memories of the timelines...That wasn’t justice...It was just...Homicide!”

Alphys sighed. “Undyne, we all did bad things to them. I took advantage of them, or at least tried to. Asgore knew about Chara since about halfway through the two’s trek through Snowdin...You weren’t the only one…”

“But that’s the thing. All you did was reactivate puzzles to try and insert yourself into their story, Asgore was afraid of what his kid would think of him, and even he said in the memory he saw, the two forgave him for everything…” Undyne started to tear up. “Me? I literally killed them...In the worst possible ways...I’m surprised they even agreed to that hang out Papyrus set up…”

Alphys adjusted her glasses, unsure of what to say next. “Un-” Alphys’ phone beeped. She picked it up, and saw that she had a text. “It’s from Chara. He and Frisk want to see you when you’re available.”

Undyne shifted in her seat, and started scarfing down her food. “Good! I’ll be free soon!!”

“U-Undyne! That’s not-” Alphys panicked when Undyne began choking on a noodle. She got up from her seat to help her girlfriend out. Sometimes it was hard to believe the person in front of her was the captain of the Royal Guard.

* * *

Clover watered the Golden Flowers with razor sharp focus. They weren’t sure what good it’d do, since monsterkind only had a few days left to pack before they could freely wander the surface. They briefly wondered if it was a good idea. Humans are unpredictable. Sure, during the discussion the country’s leader had with Asgore, it seemed like things would start off well, but Clover was suspicious. Maybe Chara and them had a lot more in common than thought. Sure, they had different reasons for ending up in the underground, but after everything Clover had seen in the underground, and after everything they went through in the orphanage, they started to question the validity of humans even more. They sighed and set the watering can down. They walked up to the throne, and sat on it, taking a breather.

“You don’t have to help.” Asgore said. “If you don’t want to.”

“It’s fine...I’m just taking a breather…” Clover said. The gentle breeze flowing through the ceiling and doorway to the barrier caused Clover’s hair to flow freely about. They felt nice, not wearing their hat. “Are you sure...That you believe everything will be fine on the surface? With humans?”

Asgore stroked his beard. “I’m not sure. Frankly, these past few events have...Changed things.”

“True…” Clover played with their scarf. “So...How much do you remember...About the RESETS...The ones with me?”

Asgore set down his watering can, and sighed. “I remember the ones where you...Y’know.”

Clover looked away. “Yeah…”

“But in those memories, I did nothing. Just like with Chara’s revival, I stayed in this room...Not doing anything…” Asgore curled one of his hands into a fist, and then took a deep breath. “Before...I was so confused as to why you…” He sighed. “Well...I can see why, now.”

Clover slouched down on the throne. They felt so uncomfortable now. “You’re not, y’know, going to have me jailed?”

Asgore shook his head. “As far as I’m concerned, as everyone is concerned, it did not happen.” Asgore walked over to Clover, and patted them on the head. Clover ducked their head in shame, still blaming themself for what happened.

“But I still…” Clover hugged their knees and let the tears flow. _“I still did it...I still hurt so many people…”_

Asgore gently patted Clover’s back, tears flowing from him as well. _“We’ve all made mistakes…”_ He commented. _“And they’ll stick with you. But, where you were able to have your actions undid...Mine will still follow me…”_

Clover looked up at Asgore, and leaned into the boss monster. _“None of us blame you...You were angry. And you had every right to be…”_ Clover sniffed. _“You were only trying to help your kingdom…”_

Asgore sighed. _“Yes, well...You may not blame me, but there are those, who won’t let me forget…”_

Clover chuckled. “We’ll keep Toriel in check.”

Asgore chuckled at that as well. “She has good reason to hate me. I don’t think there’s anything I could do to salvage that.”

Clover looked at the flowers. A somber smile formed on their lips. “We might think of something. Just let us know if you want our help…”

Asgore gave a small star of a laugh, before picking up his water can, and going back to work on the flowers. Clover remained on the throne for a bit longer, staring up at the sky. The sound of shoes falling on the stone path brought him out of it, as Luke came into the throne room, holding two plates of pie.

“Hungry?”

Asgore looked over at Luke and smiled. “I’m good, but thank you for offering!”

“Are you sure?” Luke held out the plate insistently. 

Asgore chuckled and waved his hand. “I’m quite sure!” He looked over at Clover. “How about you?”

“I could eat…” Clover responded, playing with a few strands of hair.

“Then I won’t keep you any longer. Go on and enjoy some pie! I can handle the rest just fine!”

Clover hesitated at first, but soon got off the throne and followed Luke back to Asgore’s house. They took the plate of pie, but didn’t start eating it. They kept glancing behind them, towards the throne room. “I’m a little surprised…” Clover looked at Luke. “I thought for sure he’d want it.”

“Me too…” Luke replied, tapping a finger on the plate he held. “I know he was going through something, having to see us die, and the others dead bodies...But…” Luke sighed. “I guess seeing the memories of the previous timelines...Really got to him.”

“Seems like it…” Clover looked around the city, before turning to Luke, a slight dusting of pink making it’s way on their cheeks. “So...I’ve been trying to go hatless…”

“I can see that.” Luke replied with a smile. “You look nice.”

Clover blushed fully. “You mean it…?”

Luke nodded with a chuckle. “I really do…”

* * *

“Alphys said Undyne should be free soon.” Chara put his phone away, and stared out into the city. Monsters were now walking through the streets, chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to do up on the surface. Chara smiled and turned to Frisk, who was tapping her foot on the stone floor, nervously. 

“What are we going to say to her?” She asked. “If she remembers the previous timelines now…”

“It’ll be fine. From the way Luke said it, it sounds like Undyne is really beating herself up over it…”

“That’s what I’m talking about!” Frisk replied. “What are we going to say, to let her know we forgive her, and have it sound genuine to her?!”

Chara’s eyes widened, and he began to tap his foot nervously as well. “Oh...Right…” He rested a finger on his chin as he hummed in thought. “Maybe...Cass and Alex can help out…”

“Maybe they all can…” Frisk replied. “Luke and Clover should be coming back soon...We can get their opinions as well, and Toriel can call Alyssa or Sam to get them to come back to help…”

“That sounds like the best option…” Chara grabbed Frisk’s hand and the two stepped inside the house, looking for Toriel so she could call up one of the other two fallen children. Cass and Alex noticed their expressions and walked up to the older kids.

“Something wrong?” Cass asked.

“We kinda need help rehearsing what to say to Undyne…” Frisk responded. “We were hoping Toriel could call Sam or Alyssa to come help out.”

“We might need all your guy’s opinions.” Chara added.

“REALLY!!” Alex beamed.

Chara chuckled at Alex’s enthusiasm. “Yes.”

Cass and Alex looked at each other with big shining eyes. They gave each other a high five, and grabbed a notebook and some colored pencils, and took a seat at the table. “Now then...How to go about this…” Cass said in her most professional voice. Chara and Frisk couldn’t help but give a heartfelt chuckle at the two’s antics.

* * *

Papyrus set down the last box in his room. He looked around at the emptiness. He’d always wanted to see the surface, but now that he has the chance, he found that he’s going to miss his home in Snowdin. It wasn’t all that impressive, much like every Snowdin home, but it was his and Sans’ for as long as he could remember. Papyrus wiped a tear from his eye. After the realization of the barrier breaking, and the talk he and Sans had over the previous timelines and of Gaster, Papyrus felt a bigger connection to his underground home. Sure, they could rebuild it up at the surface, but it wouldn’t hold the same value as the current one. He sighed and left his room, and the house, not even bothering to try and get Sans to clean his things. He knows they’ll somehow end up on the surface anyway.

Papyrus walked the streets of Snowdin, waving at the Canine Unit, the bunnies and bears, as well as MK, who had begun to idolize the skeleton. Papyrus wasn’t quite sure how that happened, but he doesn’t want to ask, fearing he might come off as rude. Actually, he found that a lot of the Snowdin population had begun to treat the skeleton differently. Before, they treated the skeleton as some kind of child, despite the fact that he was an adult, which slightly irked him, but given how he tends to act, he understood and left it be. Now, they were treating him as if he had joined the Royal Guard. Granted, that’s what he was previously aiming for, but after hanging out with Chara, Frisk and the other six children, that form of popularity didn’t appeal to him anymore. 

So, when Sans and him returned to Snowdin to go over their plans for the surface and get started on packing, and the few townsfolk nearby their house greeted the skeletons, Papyrus was pretty shocked when they started addressing him as an adult, and even sounding excited talking to him. As Papyrus walked through town to get to the store so he could get boxes for packing, and more of the townsfolk did the same thing, it was quite jarring for the skeleton. He’d gotten so used to being treated as a kid, or even getting the barest of acknowledgment, that the sudden shift had left him so flabbergasted, that he didn’t get started on packing till nighttime.

Papyrus stopped at the store next to the inn and got a couple of Cinna-buns for him and Sans. He noticed that the items seemed to have cost less. Rather than the 25G he was used to, they were bumped down to 10G. That wasn’t right. “UM, EXCUSE ME.”

“Yes?”

“NOT TO SOUND RUDE OR ANYTHING, BUT AREN’T THE CINNAMON BUNNIES USUALLY 25G?”

The shopkeeper giggled. “Well yes, but after hearing about the barrier being gone, I felt like lowering the prices. We’re not going to be down here for long, y’know…”

“AH, THAT MAKES SENSE.” Papyrus nodded. “SORRY AGAIN IF THAT SEEMED RUDE, IT’S JUST...I’M NOT SURE HOW TO DESCRIBE IT...BUT THE ATMOSPHERE HAS CHANGED DRASTICALLY. I KNOW APART OF THAT HAS TO DO WITH THE BARRIER, BUT…” Papyrus shrugged. “EH...MAYBE I JUST NEED TO START GETTING MORE SLEEP…”

The shopkeeper tilted her head, clearly confused. “More sleep…?”

“WELL I WAS UP FOR HALF OF THE NIGHT GETTING STARTED ON PACKING, AND EVEN BEFORE THAT GETTING A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP WAS...PRETTY RARE FOR ME…” Papyrus shook his head and chuckled. “AH, WELL, I SHOULDN’T KEEP YOU! GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR PACKING!!” Papyrus waved the storekeeper off, and made his way back to the house. He was honestly pretty glad about the reason. Actually, now that he thought about it, the barrier being shattered _WOULD_ make people more happy. Maybe he just read too much into things. He’ll need to work on that. 

He approached his house, and walked behind it towards Sans’ ‘Secret Room’, knowing that’s where his brother would be. He knocked on the door.

“who’s there?”

“CINNA-BUNS.” 

“cinna-buns who?”

“OPEN THE DOOR SO I CAN GIVE YOUR CINNA-BUN, LEST YOU WANT ME TO EAT THEM BOTH…” Papyrus tapped his foot in the snow, as Sans opened the door and took his Cinna-bun. “YOU TAKING ONE LAST LOOK AT THE PLACE?” Papyrus asked sincerely.

“yeah. most of this stuff can’t be moved, so they’re stuck here…” Sans took a bite out of his Cinna-bun. “last things we have of him, and most of them aren’t able to come with us…”

Papyrus sighed, as he took a bite out of his. “IT ALMOST SEEMS LIKE A CRUEL JOKE…”

“yeah…” Sans finished off his Cinna-buns and wiped his hands on his jacket. “speaking of jokes, i should probably get my things from my station.”

“I WOULD ASK HOW JOKES LED TO THAT THOUGHT, BUT I ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER.” Papyrus finished off his Cinna-bun, and waved Sans off. “I’LL COME WAKE YOU UP SOON.”

“aight. see you then.” Sans brushed off his hands, and took one last look at the room. He sighed, and then used a shortcut.

* * *

“Everything seems in order, Mettaton!” The angular monster finished giving off it’s report to Mettaton about the resort. They were going through a big rush, since soon the place will have to be relocated up on the surface, but even so, monsters decided to spend their last few underground days in the underground resort. Mettaton didn’t really mind, although he had hoped to spend some time with Napstablook and help his cousin pack their things. Such is the life of the underground’s star.

“I hope Burgerpants learned his lesson about smoking inside the emporium…” Mettaton muttered.

“He seemed to cut back, although he spends his breaks smoking outside in the alley.”

“I’m not too concerned about the alleyway…” Mettaton admitted. “If anything, those two girls back there probably helped distract him from doing so…” Mettaton sighed, and rubbed his eyes. “I really wish he didn’t touch those...They're bad for his health, and they stink up the place like crazy…”

“A few other employee’s tried talking to him about it.” The monster replied. “I think he’s doing it to spite you…”

Mettaton shrugged. “Of course he would...He doesn’t have the strongest opinion of me, and honestly, I don’t blame him.” Mettaton walked past the receptionist and gave them a thumbs up and a smile. “I haven’t exactly made his life here easy…”

The monster nodded, and then began to think. “Why is that?”

Mettaton sighed and drooped his shoulders. “Honestly, I tried to be supportive at first, but he’s still a teenager, so it fell on deaf ears. He wanted to appear on some of my shows, but he didn’t have the right zing for it yet. So I guess after giving him the emporium job...Well, that’s life.”

“I guess…” The monster looked around, and motioned Mettaton to come closer. The robot knelt down for the monster to whisper in his ear. _“Y’know, he’s been hanging out with the Nice Cream Salesman a lot since he came to Hotland a few days ago.”_

_“Really?”_ The monster nodded, and Mettaton went wide eyes, before shrugging it off. “Well, they do say opposites attract. If BP made friends with the Nice Cream Salesman, then good for him!” Mettaton entered the kitchen of the resort, ready to press his face into the steaks as he had done a million times before, but the moment he stepped foot in there, Mettaton froze. He looked out in the direction of the lab. The friendly, busy atmosphere was being replaced with dread. As quickly as he entered, he left the kitchen.

“Blub, blub. Mettaton, wait! What about the steaks!?” The blobby monster called out. 

“Use your face, darling! Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll taste amazing!” Mettaton called back. He left the resort and quickly took to the air, since it was the fastest way for him to reach the lab.

* * *

Mettaton flew back to the ground in front of the entrance to the lab. He went inside and saw that he wasn’t the only one there. Alphys and Undyne were a given, but Chara, Frisk and the other six fallen children were present as well. Toriel and Asgore seemed the most nervous, with Alphys somehow coming in at second. The lizard looked to Mettaton and was surprised. “M-Mettaton, why are you-”

“I felt that something was wrong.” Mettaton answered quickly. “What’s going on?”

Asgore stepped out from the crowd. “I got a call from Sans, telling me to gather everyone here.”

“A-and I got a text from him th-that said to expect everyone. I’m not sure why though.” Alphys added.

“Me either, but he sounded…”

“Sounded like what?” undyne asked.

“He sounded like he was panicking…” Asgore replied. “Knowing him...It was clear that this was serious…”

“True, he hardly ever expresses emotion. When he does, he’s not joking.” Alphys explained.

“But what’s the is-” Chara was interrupted by the sound of the other entrance opening. Sans entered the room in a rush, holding a flower pot, and a Golden Flower, that seemed to share his panicked state.

“good, you’re all here!” Sans said at the sight.

“Sans, what’s going on?” Asgore asked.

“And why do you have Asriel with you?!” Toriel added.

“One problem at a time!” Flowey shouted. Everyone flinched back as Sans took a few seconds to collect himself.

“so...here’s a twist, a new human is underground.” Sans started off.

“A new human!” Everyone gasped.

“yep. i saw them and flowey at the ruins door, so i did my whole thing, with the whoopee cushion. me and papyrus offered them some food, since they looked hungry, and papyrus asked the kid to help him with making spaghetti.” Sans took a few seconds to collect his breath. Everyone stared at the skeleton, not knowing he could get this riled up. “the kid accepted and everything was going fine-”

“And then suddenly, they started panicking. I told Papyrus to try and use some healing magic to soothe them, since I remembered that’s what Mom did with Chara.” Flowey pitched in. “It worked for a second but…”

The door opened again, and everyone stood silent at the sight of Papyrus coming in, holding a child in his hands. The child was unmoving, and Papyrus was crying. He looked up at everyone, and let out a ragged breath. “WE THINK THEY HAVE FALLEN DOWN…”


	61. Reunited (1.5/2)

Flowey grumbled as the cold wind blew against his petals. That was always a big downside to being a flower, since when he was Asriel, Snowdin’s climate never bothered him. Now, the cold was almost like he was being stabbed with tiny needles every few seconds. It sucked, and was why his Snowdin visits with Papyrus were always brief. He missed being able to traverse Snowdin, without the fear of the cold sapping away all his strength. Although now, traversing Snowdin in general seems like a good idea, except Kris kept standing still just a few feet outside the Ruins, looking up at their surroundings. Flowey groaned and managed to pull out one of his vines from the pot. He tapped Kris’ shoulder. “We’re going to freeze to death if you don’t move it.” He mumbled, looking up at the child, whose face was already red from the cold.

“Sorry…” Kris pulled up the hood of their jacket, and began to walk, finally. “I like the winter...I’m not sure why, but it feels natural for me.”

“You never know why you like anything…” Flowey hissed.

Kris let out a hearty chuckle. “You got me there.” They looked around the snow covered ground as they walked, passing by a busted up log in the middle of the path. “Why is there snow down underground anyway?”

Flowey perked up. “Oh. My god. FINALLY!! Something you don’t have an answer to!” Flowey raised his leaves in the air in victory.

Kris smiled at the flower's enthusiasm. “So does that mean you know the answer?”

“Absolutely not!” Flowey noticed Kris frown at the response. “It was like this when monsters were first trapped underground. No one really knows why. I doubt even Gerson knows, and he wrote most of the history books. You can tell, because they all make fun of Father’s naming abilities.”

Kris chuckled again. “Great, we’re both ignorant to the answer then!” Kris continued walking without making further conversation, but stopped when they heard a noise behind them. They turned around. “I know you’re there, Sans! So just show yourself!” They cried out. Kris stood still for a few seconds, before Flowey once again poked them with a vine.

“He’s not going to stop his little prank just because you know it’s coming. Believe me...I tried.” Flowey mumbled at the last part, but Kris got the idea and continued walking along the trail. Flowey was getting bored of all the walking, and couldn’t wait to get to the Riverperson. The fact that Sans was still doing his little trick was enough proof for the flower that monsters hadn’t gone up to the surface yet. Not seeing Toriel in the Ruins worried him for a bit. Kris stopped in front of the gate, and turned around to meet Sans’ gaze. They only reached up to his nasal cavity, so they had to slightly arch their head up to look Sans in the eye sockets. Sans reached out his left hand, and Kris shook it. A loud fart sound rang out, and Kris couldn’t resist the urge to chuckle at it. Flowey as usual, groaned at the sound of it. “Why is that so funny to you…?”

Kris just shrugged at the flowers question, while Sans put the whoopee cushion away. “ah, the ol’ whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny.” Sans winked. Flowey took notice immediately that Sans winked his right eye. “names sans. sans the skeleton. though, from what you said earlier, you already knew that.” Sans took on a conspiratorial tone. The skeleton looked at the flower, who just shook his head.

“Kris is...Something special…” Flowey said.

“uh huh.” Sans eyed the two suspiciously, which threw Kris for a loop. Flowey expected this.

“Kris doesn’t have dust on them.” He said, glaring at Sans. “The most evil thing they’ve ever done was take two pieces of candy from a bowl that had a sign saying ‘take one.’”

Kris sighed. _“You’re still on that…?”_

Sans chuckled and patted Kris on the head. “alright, looks like you’ll have to be taken away kiddo.” Sans shrugged. “after all, that sounds like a serious crime.”

Kris just stared at Sans in disbelief while Flowey howled with laughter. When he was done, the three passed through the bridge, and began traversing through the forest. Sans would appear occasionally on the path, while Kris and Flowey took the scenic route, talking to some of the monsters along the path, such as Snowdrake and his family, a few Ice Caps, where Kris lied through their teeth about liking the monster’s hat, and even discussing possible solution to the tile puzzle. The two reached Greater Dog’s sentry station, where Sans and Papyrus were talking to each other.

“STILL, IT’S ODD TO NOT HAVE TO COME GET YOU...IS EVERYTHING ALRIGHT?”

“yep.” Sans glanced at Kris and Flowey. “in fact…” he pointed at the two, and Papyrus turned to look. His jaw dropped, almost literally. Papyrus rushed over and took Flowey from Kris’ hands.

“FLOW...ER...ASRIEL!!! HAVE YOU CONSIDERED OUR OFFER?”

Flowey sighed. “First off, when I’m like this, just call me Flowey. Second of all, I actually did.”

Papyrus beamed. “YOU DID!?!?”

“Yep!” Flowey winked and stuck out his tongue. “I want to discuss it at Alphys’ lab though, if that’s alright with you.”

“OF COURSE!! SHE’S THE BEST EQUIPPED TO HELP AFTER ALL!” Papyrus posed dramatically, and his scarf began to fly in the wind, despite there hardly being a breeze. The skeleton handed the flower to his brother and approached the human. “AND OF COURSE, WE HAVE A NEW HUMAN UNDERGROUND! I’M SURE THE OTHERS WILL LIKE YOU!!” Papyrus reached his hand out to Kris, who shook it. “I AM-”

“Papyrus. You were trying to get into the Royal Guard. After having a battle with Chara and Frisk, you decided to be their friend. You were also the only one who could see and hear the other humans when they were ghosts.” Kris said in an instant. Papyrus froze from the information the human just said. “You also helped out Frisk and Chara during their trek into the True Lab, where you three found out about the amalgamates.” Kris added. “You like to make spaghetti for other people, but have never tried it yourself, and your favorite food is oatmeal with dinosaur eggs.”

Papyrus backed away from Kris, and walked over to Sans and Flowey. “EXCUSE US A MOMENT, IF YOU WOULD.” Papyrus says to Kris, who gives a thumbs up. Papyrus pulled Sans and Flowey behind the station, and let out a long, slowed breath. _“WHAT IN THE EVERLOVING ☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎ WAS THAT ALL ABOUT?”_ Papyrus whispered. 

Flowey tilted his head, unsure of what Papyrus said in the other font, but shrugged it off. _“Yeah...Kris is a bit...Different…”_

_“that doesn’t really give an explanation.”_ Sans replied. _“the kid knew my name, and my whoopee cushion prank layout, despite the fact that they’re new. what else do they know?”_

_“Well, for starters, they knew my actual name.”_ Flowey started off. _“And they knew the layout of the underground, listing off the locations in order of appearance, and when I initiated a fight, to see what they knew for those scenarios, they knew about the SOUL explanation, and they knew about LV…”_

_“THEY...KNEW ABOUT LV…?”_

_“That’s not even the weirder part. They said they just woke up on the bed of flowers at the Ruins entrance. When I asked about the surface, they knew almost nothing about their life up there. only basic surface knowledge…”_

Sans and Papyrus looked at each other, and at Flowey. The three of them knew that they’d have to take Kris to Alphys, and hope she could explain the situation. The three sighed, and walked from behind the station. The first thing they saw was Kris making a snowman in the shape of Mettaton’s rectangle form. Dials and all. They all gawked at the kid filling the finer details of the robot, before they turned back and looked at the three with an innocent expression. “How was the talk?” They asked.

“IT WAS GOOD…” Papyrus answered, still looking at the snowman. “DID YOU...MAKE THAT FROM MEMORY?” He asked. Kris nodded their head which prompted Papyrus to walk up to them, and lift them up in the air proudly. “THIS IS THE MOST WONDERFUL SNOW SCULPTURE I’VE EVER SEEN!!! I MEAN, I THOUGHT MY SNOW SCULPTURES WERE THE PINNACLE OF CREATION, BUT THIS IS JUST...AMAZING. YOU EVEN GOT DETAILS THAT I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW EXISTED!!”

Kris smiled at the positive comments, before a small growl rang out. Papyrus stopped and Kris patted their stomach and blushed a bit. “I guess I’m hungry…”

“OH, I CAN FIX THAT ISSUE! TO THE HOUSE, FOR SOME OF THE FINEST SPAGHETTI IN THE WHOLE UNDERGROUND!!!” Papyrus laughed as he set Kris down and began to cross the bridge. Sans and Flowey walked up to Kris, where Flowey wrapped one of his vines around their arm.

“Save yourself…” He warned. Kris responded by sticking out their tongue and following Papyrus into town. Sans and Flowey looked on in defeat. “That poor kid…”

“i’m sure they’ll be fine.” Sans said, crossing the bridge. “papyrus has improved since chara and frisk first tasted his cooking.”

“I’m holding you to that, you smiley trashbag…” Flowey grumbled.

“you’re still insistent on that nickname, eh?”

“I have my reasons…” Flowey responded. Sans left it at that and just walked through the town without saying anything else. The four entered the skele-bro’s house, which was nearly empty now from Papyrus’ packing. Flowey had never seen the place look so...Barren. It was throwing him off. Papyrus took him from Sans and the skeleton looked between him and Kris.

“DO YOU TWO WANT TO HELP?” Kris immediately shook their head in the affirmative, while Flowey took a little longer to consider it. “YOU DON’T HAVE TO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO. I KNOW MY FOOD WASN’T EXACTLY UP TO YOUR TASTES…”

_Right, he has vague memory of those…_ Flowey looked down, before perking up. “Sure, I’ll help. It’s probably the best way to make sure you don’t poison Kris.” Flowey winked.

“NYEH HEH HEH! I UNDERSTAND YOUR CONCERNS FLOWEY, BUT TRUST ME, I HAVE IMPROVED A LOT SINCE THE LAST TIME YOU TASTED MY COOKING!”

_“We’ll see.”_ Flowey retorted. The three went into the kitchen, where Papyrus began setting up the vegetables, while Kris took out a pot for the noodles. They walked over to the sink and looked around for anything that they could stand on. Papyrus noticed Kris’ plight, and used his blue magic to lift them up so they could get the water. They filled the pot to about halfway full before touching the ground again. _“They’re even used to blue magic…”_

“MYSTERIES UPON MYSTERIES I SUPPOSE.” Papyrus replied. Kris made their way to the stove, as Papyrus pulled out a knife from the drawer. He twirled it like a showoff, before he began cutting the tomatoes. Flowey stared at the skeleton.

“When did you get all showoff-y?”

“OH, THAT WAS JUST A TRICK I DO WITH MY BONE ATTACKS SOMETIMES. AFTER A FEW FAILED ATTEMPTS AT USING THOSE SHARPENED BONES TO CUT THE VEGETABLES, I GOT A KNIFE FROM THE STORE.”

“Oh…” Flowey mumbled. He opened his mouth to say something else, when a crash was heard outside the kitchen. The two turned around, and saw Kris cowering in front of the table, gripping their hair in a manner that would be rather painful, and the pot was spilled over a few feet away from them. The two panicked. Papyrus picked Flowey up, and rushed to Kris’ side.

“KRIS?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!”

_“No….please...please don’t……”_ Kris whined. _“Please...not again….”_

“KRIS…?”

“papyrus, what’s all that-” Sans’ eye sockets went pitch black at the sight. Papyrus looked up at Sans with panic in his eye sockets.

“SANS!! I DON’T...SOMETHING’S WRONG!!” In a blink of an eye, Sans appeared next to Papyrus and Flowey.

“i think they’re in shock, paps.” Sans surmised, as Kris began hyperventilating. Flowey’s beady eyes widened.

“WHAT...WHAT DO WE-”

“First off, they need space.” Flowey said quickly. “Sans, you and I should back up a bit.” Flowey looked at Papyrus. “Papyrus, since you’re good at healing magic, use some on Kris, and try to speak softly.” 

“FLOW-”

“Just do it!”

“OK! OK…” Sans picked up Flowey and the two backed up. Papyrus laid a hand on Kris’ back, and a green aura flowed from his hand. Kris let go of their hair, and looked up a bit. Everyone gasped when they saw that Kris’ left eye was clouded, with blood running down from it, instead of tears, like their right eye. Papyrus shook his head and kept the stream of magic flowing. _“KRIS...NO ONE IS GOING TO HURT YOU...YOU’RE SAFE…”_

Kris relaxed slightly. Their legs laid flat on the ground and they looked ahead at nothing, their left eye going back to normal, with tears replacing the blood. Everyone sighed in relief, but when Papyrus eased up on the magic, Kris flinched and almost curled up again. They clutched their chest in pain. _"It...hurts….it hurts...so much…”_ They let out a raspy breath, and before anyone could say anything, they collapsed on the floor. Everyone looked at them with shock. Sans turned them over and opened one of their eyes. Their pupils were dilated. Sans started to freak out.

“pap...you don’t think…?”

“I...I…”

“I don’t get it…” Flowey muttered. The skele-bro’s looked at the flower. “Whenever Chara would get like that, Mom would just use her healing magic and reassure him...It always worked...So why did Kris…?”

“i’m not sure, but the point is, if they did fall down, it could be bad for everyone's safety…” 

“SANS IS RIGHT...IF THEY DIE...HUMANS MIGHT…” Papyrus shuddered at the thought. “SANS, WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING!”

“i know, i know…” Sans pulled out his phone. “i’ll call asgore, and tell him to get everyone at the lab, and then i’ll text alphys to expect them.”

“Wait, why everyone?” Flowey asked.

Sans hesitated, as he gripped his phone harder. “something tells me that everyone needs to know…” Sans walked to the house entrance. “i’ll make sure the Riverperson gets to their snowdin post. i don't think you should use a shortcut with their condition.”

Papyrus picked up Kris, and began to tear up. “DID I DO SOMETHING WRONG?” Sans froze up, but Flowey extended one of their vines to pat Papyrus on the back.

“You did everything just fine, Papyrus.” Flowey turned towards Sans. “Mind if I come with you?” The moment he finished his sentence, Sans pulled Flowey over to him with blue magic. The two walked out of the house, and Sans dialed up Asgore's phone.

“hey, asgore? listen, there’s no time to explain so just hear me out. i need you to get tori and the kids over to alphys’ lab. i’ll explain when i get there.” Sans ended the call, and began texting Alphys. When he was done, he put his phone away and the whole world seemed to darken, but only for a split second, before Sans went to the Waterfall post for the Riverperson. When they weren’t there, the world flashed dark again, and the two were at the Hotland post. The Riverperson glanced at the two.

“Is something the matter? I can tell from your demeanor.” They said.

“listen, my bro’s waiting for you at the snowdin post. it’s urgent so please go quickly.”

The Riverperson nodded, and their boat, which for some reason had a dog head, sprouted legs, and took off running. The two looked at the distant boat in confusion. “I will never, for the life of me, ever figure out their deal…” Flowey muttered.

“you and me both pal.” Sans responded. He sighed and looked Flowey over. “so...what’s your big plan now?”

“Get help from Alphys to get the remaining parts of my SOUL, I guess…” Flowey responded, slightly flinching.

“really now…?”

“Yep. When I woke up, I was in this pot, which was annoying, but I could feel it...My SOUL returned. Or at least I felt a small fragment of my SOUL.” Flowey explained. “Look, I know _you_ in particular, don’t have any reason to trust me. Neither does Clover, or heck, anyone really. But I’m serious about this. If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have freaked out over Kris with you guys.”

Sans sighed. “true…” He fiddled with one of his coat strings, and looked at Flowey. “they’re probably going to focus on you, when we get in there.”

“Then I’ll let them know that there’s more pressing matters…” Flowey muttered.

“ok, then…”

The two stood in silence, waiting for the Riverperson to return with Papyrus. When they did, the three quickly went up the steps and stood in front of the lab. Papyrus was shaking, which worried Sans and Flowey, even more than they were. The two went in first, leaving Papyrus time to collect himself. Of course, when they entered, everyone focused on Flowey immediately, but after a quick shout and Papyrus finally coming in, everyone shifted their focus onto the unconscious Kris. Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus and the eight other humans went down into the True Lab, with Sans taking the rest down with a shortcut.

Everyone sat in silence as Alphys looked them over with one of her devices.


	62. Reunited (2/2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took like, forever. The days had been pretty dull which really killed my motivation for a few days. But we're back! For today. Tomorrow we're getting a new internet provider so I want to wait till that's done before adding more. I'm weird. *Shrugs*

Alphys tapped a few buttons on her device, displaying an image of Kris’ SOUL, as well as their current LV, HP, ATK and DEF. Alphys raises a brow, and taps a few more buttons. After a few moments, she turns off the device and sighs. “Well, everything appears to be normal. Their HP is at a healthy 20 and their LV is at the standard one.” She sets the device down and turns to the group. “If I had to guess, I’d say they fainted from shock.”

Everyone seemed to nod sadly, but with understanding. Except Flowey, who wore an expression of disbelief if anything else. “Shock?! From what?! The entire time they’ve been underground, literally nothing had been phasing them!! Not me, not those spider donuts, not the very fact of the underground at all, they even built a snow sculpture of Mettaton for god’s sake!” Flowey ranted. “But for some reason helping out with making spaghetti is a cause of concern for them?! That doesn’t even make any sense!!!”

The gazes everyone made towards the flower could be lethal. There were definitely some parts of his statement that needed clarifying, but before anyone could ask, Chara made a slight hum, which turned everyone’s heads. “Maybe they remembered something that they tried to repress.” He stated. “And something during the cooking process made them remember.”

“WELL, WE DIDN’T GET THAT FAR INTO IT.” Papyrus spoke up. “THEY GOT THE WATER FOR THE NOODLES, AND I WAS GETTING THE VEGETABLES CUT UP FOR THE SAUCE. I DICED UP A SINGLE TOMATO BEFORE THEY STARTED FREAKING OUT…”

“Then they freaked out over…?” Undyne began thinking…

“The knife.” Sam said plainly. “They freaked out over the knife…” Everyone looked at them while they just shrugged. “I mean, that’s the only proper tool you could use for cutting the vegetables, and something like that _COULD_ bring back traumatic memories.”

Alphys tapped her fingers together. “W-well I suppose that makes sense…” Alphys turned to Sans, Papyrus and Flowey. “If it’s alright with you guys, I’d like to ask a couple questions about…”

“Kris…” Flowey said. “Their name is Kris.” Frisk recoiled a bit at the sound of the name, but no one except the other humans seemed to have noticed.

“Right. Well, I suppose we should sort everything out…” Alphys looked over at Kris. Frisk had walked up to the human at that point.

“We should put them on one of the beds…” She suggested. She looked over the new human with intrigue. Something that particularly got her interest was the scar on their left eye. She hovered a hand over the scar, but when her finger grazed it, a small bolt of electricity shocked her. “So they’re comfortable…”

“On it.” Undyne walked over to Kris and picked them up. Everyone headed out of the room, and Alphys turned her attention to the trio.

“So...About Kris…”

“They’re weird…” Flowey deadpanned. Papyrus shook his flower pot.

“FLOWEY!”

“It’s the truth and you know it!”

Alphys sighed. “Just...What do you know about them? And...I’d like you to explain that Mettaton snow sculpture. Something about that detail seems...Well…”

“off?” Sans finished.

“Y-yes…”

“Well then you’re in luck, because Kris told me something interesting.” Flowey replied. “Something that everyone’s gonna need to hear at some point before they wake up.”

“O-of course! So-” A gentle knock on the wall interrupted her. Everyone turned to see Asgore and Toriel standing at the entrance of the room. 

Asgore cleared his throat. “If it’s alright with you, we’d like a word…”

“With Asriel…” Toriel finished.

Alphys looked between the Dreemurr’s and Flowey with uncertainty filling her eyes. Flowey looked up at Alphys and nodded. “It’s fine. I might as well get it out of the way.”

“A-are you s-sure?”

“Positive.” Papyrus walked over and handed Flowey off to Asgore and Toriel. He looked over at Sans and Alphys, and the three of them silently agreed to discuss it at a later date. They left the room and Alphys went her separate way from the skeletons, who shared a look of concern.

* * *

Chara put in a few coins in the vending machine and grabbed himself a bag of chisps. He leaned against the machine as he opened the bag and began eating the contents. Undyne came in from the bedroom, and leaned against the machine with Chara. The two stood in silence for a minute.

Undyne cleared her throat. “So, where’d Mettaton run off to?”

“He said he needed to go help Napstablook with something.” Chara explained.

“Ah…”

Another round of silence goes by. The two both wished in their heads that someone would come in and pull the other away for a conversation, but Alphys and Frisk were too busy discussing and looking after Kris. Asgore, Toriel and Flowey were having a moment, the skele-bro’s were on their own, and the fallen children were too busy watching anime in the TV room. Chara finished his bag and the two shared a sigh as he crumbled up the plastic vessel.

“I wanted to apologize.”

“I wanted to say ‘I’m sorry.’”

The two looked at each other in befuddlement. They began stuttering for the first word, but after a few minutes, Chara let Undyne go first.

“Ok, I know why **_I’m_ **trying to apologize, but what do you need to apologize for?”

“Mom said everyone remembers every timeline, right?” Chara waited for Undyne to nod before continuing. “Which means you remember the timeline where me and Frisk...Killed you…”

Undyne’s only eye widened. “Oh…” She paused for a few seconds. “No, you don’t need to apologize for that.”

“But-”

“You two were trying to defend yourselves. After all, I _DID_ make the first strike on multiple occasions, and I _DID_ attack Frisk when she tried to show mercy...I was horrible to you guys…”

Chara sighed. “Ok, yes I was peeved about you attacking Frisk that one time, but...Undyne we weren’t even trying to kill you, in any of the attempts.”

“You weren’t?” Undyne sounded offended more than confused.

Chara nodded sadly. “We were trying to get you low enough to stop fighting...But we struck too hard.” Chara stared at the floor, getting lost in his thoughts. “We didn’t mean to...Yet we did…” Chara was brought back to reality by Undyne jabbing him in the shoulder.

“If you ask me, I deserved it.”

Chara's eyes widened in shock. “What?!”

“Look at what I did to you guys in those other matches. Before you killed me and before you ran away. What I did...It was wrong...Very wrong.”

“Undyne-”

“All those other attempts...What I did to you guys wasn’t right.” Undyne. for the first time that Chara has ever seen, was beginning to tear up. “I just...It was awful, having to relive _THOSE_ again…”

Chara patted Undyne on the arm, mainly because he couldn’t quite get to her shoulder, and let out a sigh. “Undyne. Half of those wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t provoked you.” Undyne looked at Chara with doubt. “I will admit, there was some part of me that, after what happened with Frisk, wanted to get revenge.” Undyne nodded understandably. “But either way, we weren’t trying to kill you, and like I said, if we hadn’t provoked you...” Chara sighed. 

Undyne nodded and ruffled Chara’s hair. “I get ya punk…”

Chara smiled. He held out his hand towards Undyne. “Then let’s agree that both of us were wrong, and that we shouldn’t spend the rest of our lives worrying about what happened in those timelines, deal?”

Undyne grinned widely and shook Chara’s hand. “Deal!” She then gripped Chara in a medium grip headlock.

Chara struggled to get out of it all the same however. “Undyne!...”

Undyne chuckled. “I will admit, your techniques were pretty solid, but if you want to avoid that outcome again, you need to work on your power output.”

Chara sighed in defeat. “I know.”

“Thankfully, I know the perfect teacher for that!”

Chara turned his head to try and stare Undyne in the eye. “Your training methods might be a bit extreme for us, Undyne…”

“Pfft! Not me! Papyrus!” Undyne said with a smile.

“Really?” Chara said with suspicion. “He’s good at that?”

“Yeah! Better than most monsters really…” Undyne beamed. “He has enough control over his magic that he can stop all damage as soon as the person can barely fight anymore!” Undyne stroked her chin. “I think it was during one of our more extreme training sessions where he demonstrated that..."

Chara was wide eyed. “That sounds really useful.”

“Heh. We’ll have to ask him then!”

Chara nodded. “Definitely.”

* * *

“Wow. Look at all these doppelgangers!” Flowey joked at the sight of the other Golden Flowers on the desk. “Alphys must have grown these from all the seeds that stuck to her. The terminal did say how they always stick to you…” Flowey hummed. He turned to Asgore and Toriel, whose faces were serious. “Not the time...Right…” Flowey shrunk a bit inside his pot. The two boss monsters looked down at the flower with tears in their eyes. Flowey winced and could already guess the next few lines. “Look, I know you two are gonna get sappy on me, but let’s just skip past the ‘Oh, Asriel I can’t believe it’s you!’ and just get on with the questions.”

“Asriel…” Toriel muttered. 

“He has a point, Tori.” Asgore softly said. “After all...He has spent quite a bit of time with both of us when he first became like this.”

Flowey’s beady eyes went wide. “Wait, how do you…?” The realization hit him like Undyne would. “Oh no...You remember those...Don’t you?” The two nodded solemnly. Flowey shrunk even further in his pot. _Ah great...Just what I needed…_ He looked up at Asgore and Toriel. “So...What are your questions?”

“I suppose my first question is, during the scuffle at the barrier, was that really how you felt?” Toriel leaned towards Flowey, who nodded in response.

“He got his normal body back, and I was stuck as this flower. Of course that’s how I felt.” Flowey drawled.

Toriel lowered her head and wiped away the tears building up in her eyes. “Since you are here, were you planning on asking Alphys to restore you?”

“I was, but we’re gonna have to wait till Kris decides to stop being melodramatic.”

Toriel turned on her mom mode. “Asriel, that is not a very nice thing to say. They could have died!”

“I only have a small, _SMALL,_ portion of my SOUL back. Did you think I’d be sunshine and rainbows after that?” Flowey quipped. “Besides, I’m pretty desensitized to death at this point thanks to my RESETS. _Pretty sure I committed several war crimes in half of them.”_

“Regardless, it was still in poor taste.” Asgore replied. 

Flowey sighed. “I know, I know. I just…” Flowey looked away from the boss monsters and back at the other flowers. “I had nothing for so long. No SOUL, which meant no real friendships, and no real way to just, pass on. So it’s hard to turn that side of me off, even when I’m pretending to be nice. Y’know?”

The two looked down. “No...I can’t say either of us do.” Asgore replied. “But, it does sound like a...Tough experience.”

“Some might say it was hell.” Flowey quickly added.

“However, Alphys may be able to help, like Papyrus stated.” Toriel said. “And, if you say you have a small part of your SOUL back.” Toriel gently brushed one of her fingers beneath Flowey’s petals. “Then it might be easier to save you.” She smiled.

Flowey shrugged. “You may have a point there.”

Asgore knelt down beside the desk. He gently patted one of Flowey’s petals. “We’re going to be here for you, Asriel. We’ll make sure you return to normal.”

Flowey looked at the two and gave a sad smile. “Thanks, guys. But can I make one small suggestion?” The boss monsters didn’t respond. “When I’m like this, can you stick to calling me ‘Flowey’? It feels more natural at the moment.” He looked down sheepishly. Asgore and Toriel looked shocked for a second, but they nodded in agreement. Flowey smiled at their agreement.

“By the way.” Asgore said abruptly. “You said that Kris wasn’t shocked by the underground. What did you mean by that?”

“I’m quite curious as well.” Toriel commented.

“Oh boy…” Flowey sighed. “So from my understanding-”

* * *

The fallen children were gathered around the old television. None of them were used to the way it handled, meaning that there was quite a bit of confusion on how it worked. Thankfully, Clover figured it out and now the six of them were scattered about the room, watching whatever shows Alphys had stored, which were mostly anime. Well, beggars can’t be choosers. Luke, Alex and Cass sat in front of the screen, mindlessly munching away on the snacks they brought with them. Sam was busy writing something down in their notebook, with Alyssa leaning next to them to see what they were writing. Sam seemed both annoyed and amused at the ballerina. Clover tucked themselves away in the corner of the room, not paying the screen any mind. They briefly looked at the doorway to the room, and bit their lip.

“Alright.” Clover sighed. “I think it’s about time we address the elephant in the room.” The others looked at them with questioning looks. Clover glared at them. “Don’t look at me like that.” They pinched their nose and exhaled. “The surface. We need to talk about our plans for the surface. We all put it off, but now we need to discuss this.”

Everyone began looking around, faces filled with uncertainty. Alex was the first one to pipe up. “You mean like...Living situations?”

“That’s part of it.” Clover replied. “I can already guess that Frisk might plan to stay with someone else.”

“Why do you say that?” Cass asked.

“Well, given her relationship status with Chara, I can imagine that Frisk would live in a different household then him, so that no one would treat them as siblings.” Sam explained. “It’s just a matter of her finding out who Chara is going to stay with.”

“Oh…” Cass inaudibly said.

“As for the rest of us…” Sam looked around the room. “It depends on what we all have left on the surface.” They began writing in their notebook again. “You can already guess my plight. And from what Lys told me, Cass is in the same boat.”

Cass nodded sadly. “I was planning on staying with Ms. Toriel.”

“Understandable.” Sam commented. “As for me, I was planning on staying with Undyne and Alphys.” Sam glanced at Alyssa, who was staring at them with a sense of betrayal and sadness. Sam looks away and begins to regret saying that. “Keyword is planning. I haven’t fully thought about it.” They bury their face in their notebook.

“Well…” Alyssa offhandedly says. “I was supposed to live with my mother, since she got full custody.”

“Supposed to?” Clover asked.

“She’s not really the best…” Alyssa muttered. “I prefer Toriel…” 

Cass beamed at Alyssa’s preferal. “Then we can both live with Toriel! We can be sisters!”

Alyssa smiled and patted Cass on the head. “That sounds nice.”

Clover made a slight chuckle at the sight. “Wow, most of us really don’t have homes on the surface…”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked.

“Sam, Cass and Alyssa don’t have any good parents to go to. And I’m an orphan.” Clover said plainly. “Although I don’t think having multiple people stay with Toriel is a good idea. That’s too many mouths to feed.”

Everyone nodded, while Sam and Alyssa stared at each other. “Then, who were you planning on staying with?” Cass asked.

“Well, I doubt Asgore and Toriel would stay in the same house, so I might stay with Asgore. Keep him company, y’know?”

“That’s thoughtful of you.” Luke commented. Clover slightly blushed at the comment.

“What about you two?” Sam asked Luke and Alex.

“Well...My dad was planning on moving away, before I fell down.” Alex explained. “I doubt he stayed after I did. We both knew about the legend, so he must have guessed I was a lost cause and moved. _He wasn’t wrong for the most part…”_ Everyone looked at Alex solemnly. The younger boy stood up and made his way to the door. “I need to do some thinking.” He put on a strained smile and left the room. 

“Well…” Clover muttered. “That was...Unexpected.” The others nodded. Clover looked over at Luke, who kept clutching the bottom of his shirt. “Luke?”

“My family owns a restaurant in the city. From what I understand, I was gone for maybe 5 years or so...I wanted to at least check and see if...If maybe I could live there again. See if they still own it and...” Luke sighed. “I miss it.” He looked to Clover, who wore an expression of understanding. Luke gazed at the ground and blushed slightly. “If I’m able, I’ll still come around to visit. My family is really friendly and accepting, so I doubt they’ll care if you’re living with monsters.”

Clover walked over and sat down next to Luke, wearing a smile on their face. “I hope you’ll be able to stay there again.”

Luke rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah...Me too…” He looked Clover in the eye and held their hand. “And like I said, I’ll visit.”

“I look forward to it.” Clover replied. The two looked at each other in silence, before the sound of a snickering Alyssa got their attention. They glared at the ballerina. “Something funny, Alyssa?”

“Nothing.” Alyssa replied, still snickering. “You two are just cute together is all!” She had to restrain herself from laughing as the two both went red in the face. Sam made a slight chuckle at the sight, which got Alyssa’s attention. “Did you just!?”

“No.” Sam said quickly, hiding their face in their book again. 

“Aw, come on!” Alyssa began trying to take the book away. “It was cute!”

Cass was full blown laughing at all the antics going on, but couldn’t help but stare at the doorway somberly.

* * *

 _Dang, I should’ve stayed. It sounds like something funny happened._ Alex thought to himself as he leaned against the hallway wall. _Oh well. I need to focus._ Alex slowly crept up to another doorway. He pressed himself against the wall, and slowly leaned his head to hear the conversation. _‘Maybe…’_ Alex held his breath and positioned himself so he could get a better sight at the two skeletons. Sans and Papyrus were having a conversation, but Alex couldn’t understand a word of what they were saying, even as he briefly passed by when getting the snacks.

“⬧︎□︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎📪︎ ♓︎■︎ ♋︎■︎⍓︎ □︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎□︎⬧︎♏︎ ⧫︎♓︎❍︎♏︎●︎♓︎■︎♏︎⬧︎📪︎ ◻︎◆︎■︎⧫︎♏︎♎︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♐︎●︎□︎⬥︎♏︎❒︎ □︎❒︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ♓︎ ♋︎●︎⬥︎♋︎⍓︎⬧︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ □︎■︎♏︎ ⬥︎♒︎□︎ ♒︎♋︎♎︎ ⧫︎□︎ ♎︎□︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ⬥︎♒︎♏︎■︎ ♒︎♏︎ ♑︎□︎⧫︎ ⧫︎□︎ ❍︎◆︎❒︎♎︎♏︎❒︎ ♒︎♋︎◻︎◻︎⍓︎✍︎” Sans looked up at Papyrus.

“✋︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎😐︎ ⚐︎☠︎👍︎☜︎ ⚐︎☼︎ ❄︎🕈︎✋︎👍︎☜︎📬︎ ✌︎☹︎❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎📪︎ ☟︎☜︎ 💣︎✌︎☠︎✌︎☝︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ 🏱︎🕆︎💧︎☟︎ 💣︎☜︎ ⚐︎✞︎☜︎☼︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☜︎👎︎☝︎☜︎ 👌︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎💧︎ ✋︎☞︎ ✋︎ ☼︎☜︎💣︎☜︎💣︎👌︎☜︎☼︎ 👍︎⚐︎☼︎☼︎☜︎👍︎❄︎☹︎✡︎📬︎” Papyrus replied, leaning against the wall. “☟︎⚐︎☠︎☜︎💧︎❄︎☹︎✡︎📪︎ 👌︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎💧︎ 🕈︎☜︎☼︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ 👎︎☼︎✌︎✋︎☠︎✋︎☠︎☝︎📬︎ ✋︎🕯︎💣︎ ☝︎☹︎✌︎👎︎ ✋︎ 🏱︎🕆︎💧︎☟︎☜︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎☜︎💣︎⚐︎☼︎✋︎☜︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎💧︎☜︎❄︎💧︎ ⚐︎☞︎☞︎ ✌︎💧︎ 👎︎☼︎☜︎✌︎💣︎💧︎📪︎ ⚐︎❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎🕈︎✋︎💧︎☜︎ ✋︎🕯︎👎︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ 👍︎☼︎✌︎👍︎😐︎📬︎ ✋︎ 👎︎⚐︎☠︎🕯︎❄︎ 😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎ ☟︎⚐︎🕈︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☟︎✌︎☠︎👎︎☹︎☜︎👎︎ 😐︎☜︎☜︎🏱︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ✌︎ 💧︎☜︎👍︎☼︎☜︎❄︎ ☹︎✋︎😐︎☜︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎📬︎”

Sans shrugged. “♓︎⧫︎🕯︎⬧︎ ♏︎♋︎⬧︎⍓︎ ♓︎♐︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♎︎□︎ ♓︎⧫︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎ ♋︎ ⬥︎♒︎♓︎●︎♏︎📬︎ ⬧︎⧫︎♓︎●︎●︎📪︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ❒︎♏︎❍︎♏︎❍︎♌︎♏︎❒︎♏︎♎︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❒︎♏︎⬧︎♏︎⧫︎⬧︎ ♐︎❒︎□︎❍︎ ♎︎❒︎♏︎♋︎❍︎⬧︎📪︎ ⬥︎♒︎♓︎●︎♏︎ ♓︎ ◆︎⬧︎♏︎♎︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ♓︎■︎♐︎□︎❒︎❍︎♋︎⧫︎♓︎□︎■︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❍︎♋︎♍︎♒︎♓︎■︎♏︎ ♑︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ □︎◆︎⧫︎📬︎”

Papyrus looked over at Sans. “💧︎🏱︎☜︎✌︎😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 💣︎✌︎👍︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☜︎📪︎ ☟︎⚐︎🕈︎🕯︎👎︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎ ☞︎☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎✡︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ 👌︎☜︎☟︎✋︎☠︎👎︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎💧︎☜︎❄︎💧︎✍︎ ✋︎ ❄︎☟︎⚐︎🕆︎☝︎☟︎❄︎ ✋︎❄︎ ☹︎✌︎👌︎☜︎☹︎☹︎☜︎👎︎ ☟︎✋︎💣︎ ✌︎💧︎ 🕯︎✌︎☠︎⚐︎💣︎⚐︎☹︎✡︎🕯︎📬︎” He tilted his head, which indicated to Alex that Papyrus was asking a question.

_Weird…_ He thought. _They never did this in front of Chara or Frisk. I wish I knew what they were saying._

“♓︎⧫︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ♏︎♋︎⬧︎⍓︎ ⧫︎□︎ ◻︎◆︎⧫︎ ⧫︎⬥︎□︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ⧫︎⬥︎□︎ ⧫︎□︎♑︎♏︎⧫︎♒︎♏︎❒︎ ♋︎♐︎⧫︎♏︎❒︎ ♋︎ ⬥︎♒︎♓︎●︎♏︎📬︎” Sans shrugged. “⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ❒︎♏︎♋︎●︎ ♍︎♒︎♋︎●︎●︎♏︎■︎♑︎♏︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ⧫︎❒︎⍓︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎□︎ 🙵♏︎♏︎◻︎ ♋︎■︎ ♏︎⍓︎♏︎ □︎■︎ ♒︎♓︎❍︎📬︎ ◆︎■︎●︎♓︎🙵♏︎ ♍︎♒︎♋︎❒︎♋︎ ♋︎■︎♎︎ ♐︎❒︎♓︎⬧︎🙵📪︎ ♒︎♏︎🕯︎⬧︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎ ♏︎⌧︎♋︎♍︎⧫︎●︎⍓︎ ♏︎♋︎⬧︎⍓︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⬧︎◻︎□︎⧫︎📬︎”

Papyrus sighed, which was the most normal he sounded to Alex at the moment. “🕆︎☠︎👎︎☜︎☼︎💧︎❄︎✌︎☠︎👎︎✌︎👌︎☹︎☜︎📬︎ ☟︎☜︎ ☠︎☜︎✞︎☜︎☼︎ ☼︎☜︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ 💧︎❄︎✌︎✡︎☜︎👎︎ ✋︎☠︎ ⚐︎☠︎☜︎ 🏱︎☹︎✌︎👍︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎⚐︎ ☹︎⚐︎☠︎☝︎📪︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ ✋︎☠︎ 💧︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎👎︎✋︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ✌︎💣︎⚐︎🕆︎☠︎❄︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ☜︎✞︎☜︎☠︎ ☹︎⚐︎🕈︎☜︎☼︎📬︎'' Papyrus stretched. “❄︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ✌︎☝︎✌︎✋︎☠︎📪︎ ✋︎☞︎ ☟︎☜︎ 😐︎☠︎☜︎🕈︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ 🕈︎☜︎ 😐︎☠︎☜︎🕈︎ ✌︎👌︎⚐︎🕆︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ☼︎☜︎💧︎☜︎❄︎💧︎📪︎ ❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎💧︎ 🏱︎☼︎⚐︎👌︎✌︎👌︎☹︎✡︎ 🕈︎⚐︎🕆︎☹︎👎︎🕯︎✞︎☜︎ ☝︎⚐︎❄︎❄︎☜︎☠︎ ☠︎✌︎💧︎❄︎✋︎☜︎☼︎📬︎” Papyrus looked down in defeat.

“⍓︎□︎◆︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ♋︎ ◻︎□︎♓︎■︎⧫︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎❒︎♏︎📬︎ ⬥︎□︎❒︎🙵⬧︎ ♐︎□︎❒︎ ❍︎♏︎ ⧫︎♒︎□︎◆︎♑︎♒︎📪︎ ♌︎♏︎♍︎♋︎◆︎⬧︎♏︎ ♓︎ ●︎♓︎🙵♏︎ ♎︎□︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ■︎□︎⧫︎♒︎♓︎■︎♑︎📬︎” Sans winked.

Papyrus glared at his brother. “✡︎☜︎💧︎📪︎ ✋︎ ☼︎☜︎💣︎☜︎💣︎👌︎☜︎☼︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ 👎︎⚐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ☹︎✋︎❄︎☜︎☼︎✌︎☹︎☹︎✡︎ ☠︎⚐︎❄︎☟︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ✌︎💧︎ ☟︎☜︎ 💧︎❄︎✌︎☼︎❄︎☜︎👎︎ 👎︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ 🏱︎☜︎⚐︎🏱︎☹︎☜︎📬︎” Papyrus folded his arms. “✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☺︎🕆︎💧︎❄︎ 💧︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎☼︎☜︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 🕈︎✌︎❄︎👍︎☟︎☜︎👎︎ 💣︎⚐︎💧︎❄︎ ⚐︎☞︎ ✋︎❄︎✏︎ ☜︎✞︎☜︎☠︎ 🕈︎☟︎☜︎☠︎ ☜︎✞︎☜︎☼︎✡︎⚐︎☠︎☜︎ ✋︎💧︎ 👎︎✡︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ☼︎☜︎💣︎✌︎✋︎☠︎ ☹︎✌︎☪︎✡︎✏︎”

Sans shrugged. “♓︎ ♒︎♋︎❖︎♏︎ ♋︎■︎ ♓︎❍︎♋︎♑︎♏︎ ⧫︎□︎ ❍︎♋︎♓︎■︎⧫︎♋︎♓︎■︎📬︎ ♌︎♏︎⬧︎♓︎♎︎♏︎⬧︎📪︎ ■︎□︎■︎♏︎ □︎♐︎ ♒︎♓︎⬧︎ ♋︎⧫︎⧫︎♏︎❍︎◻︎⧫︎⬧︎ ⬥︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ❒︎♏︎♋︎●︎●︎⍓︎ ⧫︎♒︎❒︎♏︎♋︎⧫︎♏︎■︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎□︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎ ⧫︎♓︎❍︎♏︎●︎♓︎■︎♏︎ ♒︎♏︎ ⬥︎♋︎⬧︎ ♓︎■︎ ⬧︎□︎📬︎📬︎📬︎”

_“☠︎✋︎👍︎☜︎ ❄︎⚐︎ 😐︎☠︎⚐︎🕈︎ ❄︎☟︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎ 🕈︎✌︎✡︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ☝︎☜︎❄︎ ✡︎⚐︎🕆︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☼︎✡︎ ✌︎☠︎👎︎ 💧︎❄︎⚐︎🏱︎ 💣︎☜︎ ☞︎☼︎⚐︎💣︎ 👎︎✡︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ✋︎💧︎ ✋︎☞︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ 🏱︎☜︎☼︎🏱︎☜︎❄︎☼︎✌︎❄︎⚐︎☼︎ 🕈︎✌︎💧︎ ✌︎ 💧︎☜︎☼︎✋︎⚐︎🕆︎💧︎ ❄︎☟︎☼︎☜︎✌︎❄︎ ❄︎⚐︎ ❄︎☟︎☜︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎☹︎✋︎☠︎☜︎📬︎📬︎📬︎”_ Papyrus drawled.

“♋︎■︎♎︎ ♓︎♐︎ ⧫︎♒︎♏︎⍓︎ ⬥︎♏︎❒︎♏︎ ●︎❖︎ 📂︎🖲︎ ⬥︎♒︎♓︎●︎♏︎ ⧫︎❒︎⍓︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⧫︎□︎📬︎” Sans winked again while pointing at Papyrus.

_“💧︎✌︎☠︎💧︎📬︎📬︎📬︎📬︎”_ Papyrus muttered as Sans shrugged.

_I kinda wish I had a secret language like that._ Alex thought as he repositioned himself and leaned against the wall. _It’s really cool._ Alex glanced at the doorway.

“kinda rude to eavesdrop dontcha think?” Sans asked from Alex’s right, causing the kid to yelp and fall backwards at the sound and sight of the skeleton. Sans looked down at the kid and made a slight chuckle. “heh, sorry ‘bout that. it’s true though.” He reached down a hand and helped Alex up.

“Sorry…” Alex rubbed his arm. “I just...Heard you guys talking in some weird secret language and couldn’t help myself.”

“OH THAT, IT’S CALLED ‘WINGDINGS’. IT’S ANOTHER TYPE OF FONT.” Papyrus said, coming out of the room the skeletons were in. 

Alex mouthed an ‘Oh’ and nodded his head, before his eyes shot open. “Wait. Font?”

“you couldn’t tell? we’re speaking in our namesake. i speak in comic sans and papyrus speaks in, well, papyrus.” The skeleton smiled as Papyrus leaned against him, wearing the same grin.

“But...How?”

“IT’S UNIQUE TO SKELETON MONSTERS. WE’RE NOT SURE WHY THOUGH.” Papyrus said.

“that’s just how it be.” Sans stated. “wingdings was the first name of our dad, wing ding aster, and he taught us how to speak it. we also know how to speak in ‘aster’, but we mainly use it when we sleep. not sure why though.”

“Wow. That’s...That’s so cool!” Alex beamed.

“I KNOW RIGHT!? AND THE BEST PART.” Papyrus leaned closer to Alex. _“IT CAN BE TAUGHT.”_

Alex went wide eyed. “Really!?” The two skeletons nodded. Alex’s eyes started to shine. “Can you guys teach me?!”

“sure, as long as your parents are ok with it.” Sans replied lazily. Alex started to look saddened. “i’m guessing they might not be keen on the idea?”

Alex shook his head. “It’s not that. It’s...Well…” He sat against the wall. “I don’t think my dad is in Ebott anymore.”

“WHY DO YOU SAY THAT?” Papyrus asked, sitting next to Alex. 

“Before I fell down, he was talking about moving away. Something tells me that he went through with it, after I fell down here.” Alex rested his head on his arms.

“WHY WOULD HE MOVE AWAY AFTER YOU FELL DOWN?” Papyrus scratched his skull.

“Because the legend is, ‘those who climb the mountain, never return.’ and we both knew that. Why would he stay and wait for a son that will never return?” Alex looked up at Papyrus, who was at a loss. The skeleton looked at his brother, who just shrugged.

Sans looked at Alex and sat down next to him. “so what you’re saying is that you don’t have a place to live on the surface?” Alex just nodded. Sans shot a glance at Papyrus, who seemed to be getting the same idea.

“WELL THEN, HOW ABOUT YOU COME STAY WITH US?” Papyrus offered.

Alex looked between the two skeletons. “Would that be alright with you guys?”

“hey, how hard could it be?” Sans winked.

Papyrus just stared at Sans with indifference. “SOMETHING TELLS ME I’M THE ONLY ONE WHO’S GOING TO PUT AN EFFORT IN…”

“mayhaps.” Sans replied, grinning widely.

Alex chuckled. “Well if it’s fine with you guys. Me and the others were discussing where we’d go when we were up on the surface anyway.”

“DO THEY NOT HAVE ANYWHERE TO GO EITHER?” Papyrus asked.

“I’m not so sure about Luke or Clover, but Cass and Alyssa were planning on staying with Ms. Toriel and I think Sam wanted to try their luck with Undyne and Alphys.” Alex explained. “I think Frisk was planning on staying with someone else as well. In case Chara stays with Toriel.”

“understandable.” Sans commented. “wouldn’t want people to think she was dating her sibling.”

“Yep.” Alex confirmed.

“THAT SOUNDS REASONABLE.”

Sans patted Alex’s shoulder. “well don’t worry kid. we’ll take you under our ⬥︎♓︎■︎♑︎📬︎” Sans winked. Alex just looked confused and Papyrus just stared at Sans.

“NOT YOUR BEST ONE…”

Sans cringed. “yeah, that was pretty bad, even for me…”

* * *

Frisk ringed out the last of the water that was clinging onto the small rag and folded it up. She placed the rag on Kris’ forehead, having to move away some of their hair beforehand. “You need a haircut…” She took one more glance at the younger human’s hair, where it almost reached past the shoulders and just barely hung over the eyes in a spiky mess that rivals Chara’s hair. She took one last glance at their scar. _“That’s way too similar to be a coincidence, but…”_ She sighed and sat down in the chair she positioned near the bed. She rubbed her eyes and looked at the floor. _“It’s almost a one for one match. But the odds of someone else getting the same type of scar, in the same exact shape, in the exact same place…”_ She bit her lip. _“I’m going crazy…”_ She leaned forward and rested her arms on her knees.

“And how is the patient, Dr. Frisk?” Chara asked jokingly.

“Still out cold.” Frisk replied, unmoving. She heard Chara hum but she didn’t have the energy to move. The bed creaked and she raised her head slightly to see Chara sitting on the edge.

“Um...So according to Alphys, Flowey has a small portion of his SOUL back. If he waits it out, it could return fully in time, meaning at some point, he’ll be back to Asriel.” Chara explained. “She thinks that with more positive reinforcement, Flowey will turn back to Asriel sooner.”

“That sounds nice.” Frisk responded.

“Yeah. It does.” Chara looked at Frisk with concern. “So, it sounds like Alex was adopted by Sans and Papyrus, and Sam was adopted by Undyne and Alphys. Everyone’s in the TV room at the moment, discussing living situations and watching anime…” Chara chuckled. “Mom and Dad are really confused by it all.” He looked at Frisk. She still didn’t move. Chara sighed. “I...Me and the other fallen children, noticed your reaction to their name. Because it was the same as your brother’s…” 

Frisk moved up from her position and looked at Chara, with tears starting to form in her eyes. “It was odd to hear his name, but there are a lot of people with the same name as others, but…” She looked at Kris’ sleeping form. “They have the same scar. Over their left eye, like he did.”

Chara looked at the scar. “Your brother had his hair over his left eye, right? Is that what was under it?”

Frisk nodded. “Our mom was really strict and wanted us to have perfect grades. One time, Kris got a few F’s on his report card and-” Frisk was interrupted by Kris mumbling something in their sleep. It sounded hurried and fearful. “Well, it wasn’t pretty.”

Chara gripped the edge of the bed tightly. “Why would someone do that to their own kid?”

Frisk shrugged. “I don’t know. Kris stopped trying to figure them out since before they adopted me. They seemed nice at first, but when I actually got to their house, it all went downhill. He tried to protect me for a portion of it. A friend I made at school taught me a few ways to defend myself just in case, and soon we were watching each other's backs.” Frisk smiled sadly at the memory. “It almost seemed fine. Everything was stagnant, with a few bumps here and there, but overall, no change. Then…” Frisk started to cry. Chara got up from where he was sitting and pulled Frisk into a hug. “It’s strange, you know?” Frisk said.

“What is?”

“I always wish that what happened, didn’t happen. But if it didn’t, I wouldn’t have met you. Toriel. Sans and Papyrus. Everyone. They’d still be trapped, waiting for another human to fall down.” Frisk wiped her eyes. “I’m stuck between wishing what happened to Kris didn’t happen and being thankful I met you all. I don’t know which one I should focus on more.”

“Well, no one said you had to choose one.” Chara replied. Frisk looked up at Chara with a confused expression. “You can wish that what happened to Kris didn’t happen, but that doesn’t mean you aren’t thankful for meeting us. You just wished we could’ve met under different circumstances is all.”

“But-”

“Frisk.” Chara sighed. “Before we found out who Flowey actually was, I spent most of our journey silently wishing that I didn’t make that stupid plan.” He gently lifted Frisk’s head up to look her in the eyes. “It’s natural to feel that way. That doesn’t mean you hate how things are.”

“I…” Frisk wiped her eyes. “You make a good point.”

“I hope I did, because I just winged it.” Chara smiled when Frisk started to chuckle. “Come on, Alphys is probably trying her best to explain anime to Mom and Dad, that might cheer you up a bit.”

“That sounds nice.” Frisk sniffed away her last bit of sadness, stood up. She gave Chara a kiss on the cheek. “Thanks.”

“No problem. To be honest, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to help.” Chara shrugged.

“Well you did.” Frisk smiled. “Even if you did it on the thought that you wouldn’t be able to.”

“I honestly thought I’d have to get everyone else involved.” Chara rubbed his arm. 

Frisk chuckled and took Chara by the hand. “I’m glad you didn’t have to. I didn’t need a whole intervention.” Chara chuckled and Frisk looked over at Kris. She gave them a small pat on the head. “Get well soon.” The two started to walk out of the area, when they heard Kris stir in their sleep.

“Mmph...Frisk?” Kris opened their eyes. The right an icy blue color, lighter than Cass’ cyan SOUL. The left, a blood red. They slowly sat up, and removed the damp rag from their head. “I just had the weirdest dream.” They rubbed their head. Chara and Frisk stared at the human, dumbstruck. “You and Chara were traversing the underground, except Flowey was...Nice? He was wrapped around Chara’s arm and the monsters were really edgy, for some reason. There was a lot of black and red and it was all just…” Kris stretched. “Everyone kept saying that it was ‘kill or be killed’ and…” Kris held a hand up to their throat. “Why do I sound younger?”

Chara and Frisk stood silent as Kris started looking over themselves. “And where’d this outfit come from?” Kris looked over at the two other humans. “Guys? Frisk?” They tilted their head. “Is something wrong? The last time you were this speechless was when mom found out what happened with-”

“Kris?” Frisk muttered.

“Yeah?” Kris looked around. “Is there a particular reason why I’m in the True Lab? And y’know, 10 years old?”

Frisk walked up to the younger human. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Kris raised an eyebrow. “Well, it was during that whole Asriel thing, and we were talking while in this...Void area. I told you guys you needed to SAVE Asriel and then I-” Kris was interrupted by Frisk pulling them into a hug. They looked at Chara, who just stood silent. “Guys, what happened?”

Frisk broke off the hug and gripped Kris on their shoulders. “It’s...Well, complicated.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, Underverse 0.5 came out yesterday. I'm excited for the rest. How 'bout you guys?
> 
> (What do I say after being gone for like, a week?)
> 
> My favorite part of this whole update was the Wingding convo the skele-bro's had...


	63. The Surface

Kris stared at themselves in front of the mirrors in the lab. It felt weird. Being dead, and then a ghost, and then alive again. There wasn’t any real explanation for any of it, save for a piece of paper in their pocket. Everything seemed so odd now. They died at 15, and came back at age 10. They woke up with only the memories of the underground, passed out from shock, woke up with all their memories but everything after that is just confusing. Everything just confused them. They woke up in front of Chara and Frisk, and gave them quite the shock. The two shocked them as well. Kris thought they were a goner, but here they are. Kris kept getting a headache trying to wrap their head around their situation. _“God, the surface is going to be a real trip…”_ Kris whispered to themselves. _“What do I have so far?”_ Kris asked themselves, staring back into the mirror. 

* * *

Kris was taken to Alphys and the others. Chara and Frisk explained the situation as best they could, with the six fallen children sharing their small pieces of the story. Kris was getting re-examined by Alphys, as the others listened to Frisk and co. Alphys set away her device and rubbed her temple. “Th-this is confusing. Before your S-SOUL only had a small portion of a red one, and now it’s…” Alphys sighed. “I’ve never seen a SOUL like this.”

Kris tapped the examination table idly. They were just as confused. They looked back at their encounter with Flowey. “Before, when it was just an ice blue, with a bit of red...What did that mean?”

Alphys scratched her hands. “W-well, before your SOUL was mainly the virtue of Intelligence, with some portions of a red SOUL, and now that it’s half and half…” Alphys sighed. “It’s complicated.”

Kris looked to the floor. They sighed and got off of the examination table. “So there’s no real explanation?”

“N-not at the moment, no.” Alphys replied honestly. “I do have most of the notes from the previous Royal Scientist regarding the nature of human SOULS that could help, but they’re packed up at the moment, and-”

Kris brought their hand up to stop Alphys’ rambling. “It’s fine. I get it.” Kris rubbed the back of their head. “If I have to wait, I can wait.”

Alphys shrunk in on herself. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Kris shrugged. “I’m used to having to wait for things.” They started to make their way out of the room to join Frisk and the others, when Alphys tapped their shoulder. They turned and looked at the scientist. “Yeah?”

Alphys handed Kris a slip of paper. “Th-this fell out of your pocket.” Kris took the paper and opened it up. They made a face at the contents. “Is...Is something wrong?”

“I can’t read this.” Kris replied. They held it up for Alphys so she could see all the random symbols across the small note. “I know the font. It’s called Wingdings.” Kris explained. “But I never bothered to learn how to read it.”

Alphys adjusted her glasses and looked over the note. “Huh. Maybe Sans could read it.”

_“Of course he could.”_ Kris mumbled. They handed the note to Alphys and the two left the room and rejoined everyone in the large bedroom. Kris gravitated to the other humans while Alphys went over to Sans. Kris felt a tug on their sleeve. They looked down and saw Cass offering a bag of chisps. Kris smiled and accepted the bag. “Thank you.” Cass replied with a smile. They came up to the others. Frisk and Chara smiled at the two.

“Hey guys!” Chara said.

“Hi.” Kris replied, giving a lazy wave.

“So, what did Alphys find out?” Luke asked. Kris replied with a shrug and a shake of their head.

“That must suck.” Alex muttered.

“No kidding…” Clover commented.

“Let me ask the question on our minds: Does this mean you’re Frisk’s brother reincarnated, or do you just have his memories.” Sam asked.

“You don’t beat around the bush do you?” Kris deadpanned. Sam shrugged as everyone started chuckling. Kris scratched their head. “But to answer your question...I’m not sure.”

“What’s that mean?” Alyssa asked.

“Well…” Kris sighed. “Sure I have those memories but...The Kris in those doesn’t feel like me, at least not fully, y’know?”

The fallen humans all looked at each other. “Can you explain what you mean by that?” Sam asked.

Kris sighed. “I don’t know. I just...I have his memories, but I don’t feel like him. Like I should be someone different. I have different tastes, different views of myself than he did, different...Everything…The only thing that actually feels right is having Frisk be my sister, but…” Kris sighed and started to walk away. “I need to think about some things…” Kris left the group and wandered down the hallway with the mirrors.

* * *

Kris closed their eyes and hung their head at the information. They pinched the bridge on their nose and sighed. “This is too complicated for me…Nothing makes sense…”

“It’s complicated for all of us.” Frisk said, walking up to Kris. “So, what do you think of your new life?”

Kris shrugged. “It’s not bad, but...Why let me keep the memories? Why have his-my-our(?) old SOUL be half combined with the new one? I just…” Kris looked at their hand, and then leaned towards the mirror and rested their head on it. “This is too much for me…”

Frisk patted her siblings shoulder. “This is a lot for all of us.” She muttered. “But hey, the others seem happy to see you. They remember you helping them out even if, y’know, it was the old you.”

Kris gave a chuckle. “I’m glad they do. That was a real highlight for me.” Kris smiled, only for it to falter. _"Or, a highlight for the both of us, I guess...?"_

Frisk rolled her eyes and chuckled. “And the note that was in your pocket really intrigued Sans. He even mentioned trying to help Alphys figure out your situation, so it looks like you killed his laziness.”

Kris went wide eyed. “Do I get a reward for that?”

“Maybe from Papyrus.”

“I’ll take it!” The two laughed. Kris took another look in the mirror. “It’s going to take a while getting used to being the little sibling.”

“Well…” Frisk tapped her foot. “I was talking with the others, and I was thinking maybe we could live with Sans, Papyrus and Alex. So you could be one of Alex’s older siblings!”

“But isn’t your main reason for living with them is because if you lived with Toriel people would treat you as Chara’s sibling?” Kris chuckled when Frisk shrugged and nodded. “Well, living with them sounds fun.” Kris sighed. “Why is Flowey the only one showing common sense when it comes to me?”

“Because he’s Flowey.” Frisk replied. “Besides, I’m pretty sure the memories of the past timelines have severely numbed the others to anything weirder than them.”

Kris snickered. “I guess that makes sense.”

Frisk nodded. She took Kris by the shoulders and looked them in the eyes. “Look, Alphys and Sans are going to try and figure you out. Besides, me and the others are glad to have you back either way. Sure, things are different, but if you have your memories, then…” Frisk ruffled their hair. “That’s good enough for me.” She smiled.

Kris took her hand off their hair and tried to straighten it out. “Glad to know.” They sighed and smiled. “Really.”

Frisk beamed and took Kris’ hand. “Come on, it’s almost time.”

“Time for what?” Kris asked.

“To start moving to the surface!”

* * *

Monsters slowly trickled down the path, carrying boxes of items. Kris sat down at the edge of the start of the path, looking out into the sunset. The air felt clean and crisp. The Surface. It’s strange. They have memories of the surface, yet it feels new. Maybe it was because those memories weren't really theirs? They didn’t care. They enjoyed the feeling. Alex and Papyrus were setting some boxes down, as Frisk and the others were talking with Toriel and Asgore. Kris smiled. They get to be a part of this. It was sure to be bumpy, but it had promise. They focused on the sky, and it’s colors. “It’s beautiful.”

“You’re telling me.” Sam said, approaching the edge. “It’s been a while since any of us last saw the sky.” They took a deep breath and smiled. “It feels good. Despite the bad memories we have, the rest is...Amazing.”

Kris chuckled. “You got that right.” 

“Hey Papyrus, what are those up there?” Alex pointed to a couple of large cans on the top of one of the boxes.

“OH, THAT’S LEFTOVER PAINT FROM WHEN ME AND SANS PAINTED OUR HOUSE!” Papyrus explained. “PERHAPS WE’LL USE IT AT OUR NEW PLACE! SEEMS LIKE A WASTE TO NOT USE THEM.”

Alex giggled. “Yeah. It does.” The young child looked over at Kris and Sam, and walked over to join them. “Hi guys!” He waved at them. He looked out to the sunset. “Man. It’s been so long since I’ve seen one of these!”

“Feels like forever.” Kris said, before they introduced their face to their palm. “That sounds dumb coming from me.”

“It’ll sound dumb coming from any of us.” Luke said, walking up to the others with Clover. “Either way, the last time any of us saw one was definitely forever ago...” Him and Clover sat down next to Kris. 

“I always liked watching the sunset and sunrise. There’s a small hill near the orphanage that’s perfect for watching them both.” Clover leaned into Luke. “It’s nice to see one with someone else.” 

“I can imagine.” Sam said.

Soon The rest joined in on watching the sunset. All the friends Frisk and Chara made on their journey stared out into the golden sky, enamoured by the giant orb in the sky. Kris took in a deep breath and smiled. It seemed like the perfect ending. Flowey began curling his leaves inwards and outwards repeatedly. “Photosynthesis! Photosynthesis!”

“I’d wait till you have more sunlight bud.” Clover called out, bringing everyone into a laugh.

“Oh haha.” Flowey drawled.

“It feels nice though. The air.” Undyne muttered. She took in a deep breath. “I still can’t believe you guys lived with this.”

“LOOK AT ALL THE COLORS ON THE TREES!” Papyrus pointed out the red, yellow and orange leaves. “THEY LOOK SO LOVELY!”

“Get used to them while you can.” Frisk warned. “It’s only one more month of them before the snow sets in. Pretty soon everything will resemble Snowdin.”

Sans shrugged. “hey, that’ll be familiar.” 

“NO KIDDING. ME AND SANS ARE PRACTICALLY TRAINED TO HANDLE THE SNOW!” Papyrus puffed out his chest.

Undyne sighed. "Well, the cold sounds better than the heat..."

Chara chuckled. “I have a feeling you’ll like Fall and Winter the most up here, Undyne.” He smiled.

“We’ll see.” Undyne replied.

Frisk hummed in thought. Toriel rested a hand on the girl’s shoulder and smiled. “Is something on your mind?”

“Yeah. There’s going to be tension between humans and monsters, so...Who’s going to be in charge of mending that tension?” Frisk asked.

“Oh yeah, you guys weren’t there for that.” Undyne replied. “When the barrier broke, and you guys all decided to take a nap, Asgore and the Royal Guard decided to talk about the future of both races with a leader for the humans and-"

“We talked about an ambassador for monsters.” Asgore interrupted. “And I was thinking of asking you and Chara to act as those Ambassadors.”

“Us?” Frisk called out.

“Asgore, they’re kids.” Toriel said sternly.

“I don’t mind.” Chara said, much to Toriel’s surprise. “I’ll gladly act as an Ambassador.” He smiled.

“Me too! That way he doesn’t have to face all that pressure alone!” Frisk beamed. 

Toriel sighed. “You two are still children though. You shouldn’t have to force yourselves to grow up.”

“Mom…” Chara said somberly. “Let us do this for you guys. Besides, Sans told me that you guys were planning on asking me to take on that title anyway when I grew up.” He explained, causing Sans to flinch.

“Did he now…?” Toriel asked coldly.

Sans pulled down one of his jacket strings to completion. “well, we shouldn’t stay here too long.” Sans started to move down the mountain. “after all, traversing down the mountain in the dark will be hard and-” He was stopped by Toriel grabbing hold of his skull.

“Sans-” Before she could continue, Sans disappeared before her eyes. She started mumbling in anger.

“WELL...SAFE TO SAY THAT HE’S GOING TO BE IN HIDING FOR A WHILE.” Papyrus commented. Everyone started laughing at the events that transpired. Kris was the first one to stop. They stood up from the edge and stretched.

“He’s right though. We don’t want to traverse down the mountain in the dark.” They made their way over to the boxes Papyrus and Alex set down.

“Yes. He did have a point there.” Toriel muttered. Cass and Alyssa made their way over to her and the three went back to get their things. 

Asgore cleared his throat and looked to the ground sheepishly. “I suppose I should have expected he’d let that slip.”

Chara chuckled and patted Asgore’s arm. “It’s alright. I don’t blame you for wanting to keep that under wraps.”

“Still, it would’ve been better if you’d known beforehand. I doubt thrusting it on you when we planned to, would turn out like we expected.” Asgore stroked his beard nervously.

Chara nodded. “It would have been nice to know beforehand, but I promise, me and Frisk will try our best.” He gave a smile.

Asgore ruffled Chara’s hair. “I know you will.” He looked to Clover. “We should continue moving out things.”

“Right.” Clover stood up. They turned to Luke. “Good luck with the restaurant.”

“Thank you.” Luke smiled. 

Undyne patted Sam’s shoulder. “I guess we should continue too.”

Sam nodded. “Yes, that seems like a good idea.” 

Undyne smiled widely and then picked Sam and Alphys off the ground. Sam just let it happen and Alphys reacted like an Alphys would. “Alright, let’s get it done!” Undyne leapt in the air. Everyone just stared up into the air before shrugging it off. Undyne knows where she’s going. Asgore and Clover went to get their things and Luke offered to help Papyrus, Alex and Kris move their things. Soon, it was just Chara, Frisk and Flowey.

“And then there were three.” Frisk said jokingly.

“Yep.” Chara replied. They continued looking out into the sunset. Flowey sighed.

“It looks nicer, when I’m not having to worry about carrying a corpse.” He muttered.

Chara chuckled. “I can imagine. Still…” He looked back at the cavern where the barrier used to be. “We did it. It took longer than we planned but we did it!”

“Yeah. It’s better this way though.”

“Because Chara’s alive this time?” Frisk asked.

“That and the fact that this method is less likely to end in another war.” Flowey replied.

Chara hummed. “Less likely, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be some difficulties.”

“But it is our job as ambassador’s to make sure those difficulties are solved!” Frisk declared. “We’ll keep this ending happy. No matter what.”

“You better.” Flowey growled. “And you better not RESET! I don’t think we could replicate this!”

“Actually…” Frisk tapped her foot. “We’ve only had the options to SAVE and LOAD. The RESET option was always locked for us.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And whenever we had the option to load, someone else had to show the option to us.” Chara added.

Flowey looked between the two in disbelief. “That…I...That can’t be right…” Flowey lowered his head and looked at the floor in thought. “The option to RESET was always available to me. If you didn’t have that option, then you shouldn’t have been able to SAVE or LOAD.”

Frisk hummed. “That’s…”

“Great. Another mystery.” Chara drawled. “Just what we needed.”

  
  


Flowey chuckled. “Sorry about that. It’s true, but if you don’t have that option, then I don’t think I-we-should have anything to worry about.”

“I hope not.” Frisk replied. “A power like that is…”

Chara patted Frisk’s shoulder and smiled at her. “It’s best to let it be for now.” He pointed down the path. “We should take the time to enjoy what we accomplished.”

“Yeah, let’s worry about that some other day.” Flowey piped in. “For now, we need to celebrate our victory, and y’know…” He pointed a leaf down the path as well. “Catch up with the others.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t want to worry them.” Chara added. Frisk sighed and nodded her head. Chara took her hand, and the three went down the path. The monsters were free, like they always wanted. Sure, there were going to be hardships, but with Frisk and Chara acting as their Ambassadors, things were bound to get better. It was time to set aside the past, and focus on the present, and prepare for the future. 

The future of Humans and Monsters.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> something about this chapter feels like it could be improved, but every time I look over it, I can't for the life of me put my finger on what that might be...
> 
> Edit: It just occurred to me that I should give Kris' situation a little more clarity.
> 
> Basically, Kris' old red SOUL took up half of their new one, giving them the memories of Frisk's brother, but the new SOUL, or in this case, the SOUL that the VESSEL had, still has their own preferences. Since the Vessel was made for a different purpose, it has it's own likes and dislikes and since it didn't get assigned a gender, because it was going to be discarded, the Vessel is considered genderless and would prefer to be treated as such.
> 
> The only remnants of the old Kris are the memories, which were given to the Vessel when his SOUL was placed with the Vessel's SOUL, but since it wasn't fully combined yet, the Vessel didn't have all the memories. There is a subtle clue as to why the old SOUL was able to be combined with the Vessel's SOUL, but since it's only taking up half, the Vessel only has Kris' memories, but not his entire personality or identity other than his name and his relation to Frisk.
> 
> The reason why Kris says they have different likes and dislikes than Frisk's brother, is because it was designed with those likes and dislikes in mind, because it was created for a different purpose, but was taken away before it could be discarded for narrative purposes.
> 
> Does that make sense...? 
> 
> Probably not... :/


	64. 2 Years Later...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the reason this took a while was a mixture of all the descriptions I had to type, a few things in real life that distracted me, and TS!Underswap Demo.
> 
> I hope it lived up to the wait...

“[GOOOOOOOD MORNING](https://youtu.be/bn21x4CtHcg), beauties and gentle beauties! Welcome back to MTT News! Your number one news source for all things monster and human related! I am of course your fabulous host, Mettaton!” The TV blared inside the room. The ten year old occupant keeps an ear open for the robots announcements, as he begins to slip on and tie his shoes. “Let’s start things off with a goodie, as today marks the 2 year anniversary of the barrier being destroyed, and the reunion of the two races!” Mettaton declared. “As such, today will be filled to the brim with festivities, with the big bang of the night being the annual festival held in the city proper, with celebrities such as my cousin and myself hosting a glamorous show for all to see during!”

“Heh, never change Mettaton!” The ten year old finished tying his shoes, and stood up from the hood of his race car bed. He made his way over to the full length mirror, marked with the MTT brand and looked over his appearance. He smiled and nodded. _‘Looking like my Sunday Best.’_ He tilted his head and hummed in thought. _‘Or, in this case, my Tuesday Pretty Good.’_ He chuckled and took another glance at his attire. A grey shirt with a single light blue stripe, with the words ‘Cool Kid’ stitched into the middle of the line, which rested atop a darker grey long sleeve, denim shorts that reached to the knees, highlighting his black leggings adorned with skeletal features, double knotted blue sneakers and his hair was a natural, fluffy mess.

“In other news, whether you are a human who’s been curious about what lies beneath the mountain, or a monster seeking a bit of nostalgia, today marks the grand opening of ‘Mt. Ebott, Underground Touring!’” The boy whipped around and stared at the TV, a huge smile plastered on his face as he bounced up and down with joy. “Co-Ambassadors, Chara Dreemurr and Frisk Aster, felt that a grand tour of the underground, may help deepen the bond between monsters and humans, and give some newer monsters a chance to see where an old family member once resided. After all, history is important to know for both races.” Mettaton gave his million dollar smile. “While traveling throughout the deep underground, you may partake in various puzzles, whether new for the sake of the tour, or replicas of old ones from when the Ambassadors themselves traversed the world below. Walk through the mystical caverns of Waterfall, and read about the history of the two races before monsters were trapped, as well as some newly added theories as to why that was, from historians of both worlds.” Mettaton gestured to the screen behind him, which showcased a few of the sights of the tour. “As of now, the Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall and New Home are available to traverse, as Hotland and the CORE are still going under some much needed safety precautions.”

[The boy turned off the TV](https://youtu.be/M_jL-PJdsWw), joy overflowing. “I can’t wait!” He exclaimed. “It’s been so long...Now we can experience it with others!” The once again began to bounce up and down, before a knock on the bedroom door brought him out of his excited trance. He turned around to see the door open. “Hey Kris!”

Kris, now twelve, gave a lazy wave. Their hair was shorter, reaching down to their chin, but still a mess of spikes that was tied up in the back in a small ponytail. They wore a white hoodie with red sleeves, khakis which covered a larger portion of their black leggings, also adorned with skeletal features, and red sneakers that are just barely tied in place. “Breakfast is ready, Alex.”

“Oh, thanks!” Alex began to make his way to the door, when Kris held up a hand.

“Might want to fix Jevil and Seam.” They said, pointing to Alex’s bed, where two plushies, a jester and a messily stitched cat, laid willy nilly. Alex went over and fixed the cat, while leaving the jester alone.

“Jevil’s a free spirit.” Alex commented, giving them both a pat on the head. Kris smiled and shrugged, as the two left the room and headed downstairs. Sans was already seated at the table, writing stuff down whilst eating a reheated breakfast burrito. His blue parka jacket was replaced with a dark blue hooded vest, his sweater was replaced by a plain white t-shirt, that somehow, despite it’s wearer being Sans, would never get stained, and his slippers were exchanged for loafers and he wore dark blue, fingerless gloves. Nothing else really changed. Sans looked up from his notes at the two new entries and smiled.

“heh, always wondered what me and paps would look like as humans.” He took another bite of his burrito and went back to making his notes. Kris and Alex rolled their eyes and entered the kitchen to grab their share.

“He has a point, you guys.” Frisk said, walking past them. “Only difference is the color pallets.” Frisk sat down and took a bite of toast. The fifteen year old Ambassador wore a custom made sky blue jacket with the Delta Rune emblazoned on the back, a lilac purple shirt, light grey jeans with faded blue boots that had darker colors in select areas. She wore a heart locket around her neck, and her glasses had been traded out with gifted contacts curtesy of Alphys. Her hair had now stopped just short near her chin and she had grown a bit taller in the last 2 years. “It’s kinda cute though.” She teased.

“Heh, guess we know who our favorites are.” Kris replied jokingly.

“THE FACT THAT YOU SEE SANS AS A PROPER ROLE MODEL IS CONCERNING KRIS…” Papyrus drawled, handing Kris a bowl of oatmeal. Sans made an exasperated gasp.

“i’m hurt.” Sans said in faux shock.

“THE TRUTH HURTS SANS.” Papyrus replied, sitting at the table with a bowl of oatmeal of his own. The skeleton was wearing a white long sleeve with the sleeves rolled up to the elbow, and the words 'COOL BROTHER' written on it, and black pants. The rest was standard Papyrus garb. He and Kris shared a love of dinosaur egg oatmeal, while Frisk and Alex stuck with scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. Sans would always reheat anything leftover from a previous night. “YOU OF ALL PEOPLE KNOW THIS.” 

Sans shrugged. “got me there bro.” He jotted down a few more lines in his notebook before closing it and focusing solely on his food. “so i heard the underground is open for tours now.”

Alex beamed. “Yep, and we’re all gonna go revisit it!” He bounced in his chair.

“Speaking of, Toriel’s not just going to let us go by ourselves.” Kris muttered. “I wonder who she got to come with us.” Alex and Frisk shrugged. Kris let out a chuckle and focused on their food.

“WELL WHOEVER CHAPERONES YOU WILL CERTAINLY BE A FINE CHOICE!” Papyrus replied. “BESIDES, I CAN’T THINK OF ANYONE WHO WOULDN’T WANT TO REVISIT THE UNDERGROUND!”

“Asgore.” Alex simply said, voice almost inaudible. The mood went sour for a bit. Papyrus scratched the side of his skull and sighed.

“RIGHT...I SUPPOSE HE WOULD BE A BIT APPREHENSIVE ABOUT IT.” He took a bite of his oatmeal. “BUT MAYBE WITH A FEW MORE SESSIONS WITH ME AND ALPHYS, HE MIGHT START TO FEEL BETTER ABOUT IT.”

Frisk gave out a small giggle. “Let’s hope.” She took a few more bites from her food before her phone buzzed. She fished it out of her pocket and looked it over. A smile made it’s way on her face. She looked at Alex. “Remember how I said Rose and MK had plans today?”

_“Witheachother”_ Kris said while faking a cough. Sans and Papyrus chuckled while Alex nodded his head.

“Well Rose just texted me, and it seems like Violet is free to join us today.” Frisk relayed the information to Alex, and smiled when the boy’s eyes practically turned to stars.

“REALLY?!” Alex was joyful to the sound of his friend being able to join them, but he still felt the need to ask. After all, he lives with Sans. When Frisk nodded with a gentle smile, he beamed even more and fist pumped the air. “YES!!”

Kris snorted. “I’m surprised. Most people get upset when their girlfriend tries to butt in on their outings with friends and family.” Kris put on a devious smile as Alex began blushing.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” Alex protested.

“but you wish she was.” Sans said, chewing on his food. Alex tried to retort but kept stuttering, opting to hide behind his hands instead. Sans chuckled. Frisk and Papyrus looked at the two jokesters with disapproval. 

“SANS…” Papyrus drawled.

“what?” Sans tilted his head. “tell me i’m wrong.”

Frisk sighed and ruffled Alex’s hair. “Don’t pay them any mind.” She stood up and took her plate to the kitchen. She set it by the sink, knowing Papyrus was going to take care of it when they left. “Anyway, we’re meeting up near the fountain at the park.” She explained.

Kris finished their food and leaned back on their chair. “Good to know.”

“YES, AND IT’S QUITE THE COINCIDENCE SINCE ME AND UNDYNE MEET THERE FOR OUR JOGS, SO I’LL BE JOINING YOU GUYS ON YOUR WAY THERE.” Papyrus said, standing up from the table. “IN FACT, I DON’T SEE WHY WE DON’T ALL GO, SINCE I DON’T THINK THERE’S ANYTHING NEEDING TO BE DONE HERE AFTER THE DISHES ARE WASHED.”

“That sounds nice!” Alex replied honestly. 

“works for me, i needed to head there anyway.” Sans commented.

Kris chuckled as they stood up. “Skeleton family outing today, eh?”

“At least until the others join us.” Frisk answered, already set to go. Alex finished his food and helped Papyrus wash all the dishes. Frisk walked up to Kris and flicked them on the forehead.

“Ow!”

“You two need to stop teasing Alex like that.”

“We’re his older siblings.” Kris replied simply as they rubbed their forehead. “That’s our job.”

“For some.” Frisk retorted. She walked up to the door, leaning against the nearby wall. “Ready to go when you guys are!”

“ALRIGHTY!!” Papyrus called from the kitchen. “ME AND ALEX WILL BE DONE SOON!”

Sans got up from the table and joined Frisk at the wall. “today seems promising.” 

Frisk chuckled and nodded. “It sure does.”

* * *

The group emerged from behind a nearby rock, having taken a shortcut at Alex’s insistence. “nothing like a good shortcut, eh paps?” Sans said, stretching. Papyrus looked at his brother and just shrugged. “works for me.”

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/omZ4-wFlScE)

“Do you think we’ll be able to do that?” Alex asked Kris.

“I hope so. I have a few people at school I could prank with that kind of power.” Kris replied menacingly.

“YOU’RE NOT USING SHORTCUTS TO MESS YOUR CLASSMATES.” Papyrus said sternly.

“What if they deserve it?” Kris asked.

“EVEN THEN. EVERYONE DESERVES MERCY!” Papyrus posed dramatically, causing his scarf to flow with the wind. Whether it was flowing from actual wind, no one knew.

“even jerry?” Sans raised a phalange in question.

“MOST PEOPLE DESERVE MERCY!” Papyrus reiterated, causing everyone to laugh. Kris opened their mouth to say something, but stopped when Frisk stood still. The group followed her line of sight at a large pile of flowers, toys and unlit candles. Among the explosion of red’s, purples, and pinks was a simple sign, marking the names of those lost in ‘The Incident’. Sans and Papyrus recognized some of the names from Snowdin residents. Everyone turned away from the sight. Frisk sniffed and began holding on to her locket.

“it was a necessary evil kid…” Sans said, patting her shoulder. “it gave everyone a lesson, even if it was...not a nice one.”

Frisk sighed. “I know. Sorry for killing the mood guys.”

“It’s alright.” Alex replied. “We understand. You and Chara had most of the dirty work because of it.”

“You have every right to feel sad about it.” Kris consoled. Frisk put on a smile at the group trying to cheer her up. They continued down the path and reached a large fountain in the center of the park. There was nothing fancy about it, other than it’s size, but the monsters liked to gather around it anyway. 

“Hey guys!” The group looked over at Rose, who was waving them over as Violet stared into the water of the fountain. Alex got a headstart and ran up to the two. Violet turned around to see him approach and beamed.

“Alex!” She waved at the boy and began to bounce in joy. The younger girl was wearing a pink shirt covered by overalls that reached to the knees, brown boots and knee high socks. Alex stopped in front of Violet and the two smiled. “☟︎♏︎●︎●︎□︎✏︎”

“☟︎□︎⬥︎🕯︎⬧︎ ●︎♓︎♐︎♏︎ ⧫︎❒︎♏︎♋︎⧫︎♓︎■︎♑︎ ⍓︎□︎◆︎ ✞︎♓︎□︎●︎♏︎⧫︎✍︎” Alex asked. Violet gave a thumbs up and he nodded. “Good!” Rose looked at the two kids in confusion.

“I still don’t know how she learned that…” She muttered. 

“Yeah, that is kinda weird…” Frisk replied, as her and the others finally caught up. “Especially since she knew some of it before you guys even met Sans and Papyrus.”

“PERSONALLY, I THINK IT’S FANTASTIC! AFTER ALL, LEARNING THE LANGUAGE OF SOMEONE AS GREAT AS I, IS A MARVELOUS WAY TO MAKE A FIRST IMPRESSION!”

“Even if that first impression involves accidentally swearing in Wingdings in front of them?” Kris asked, causing Papyrus to freeze up. Rose, Frisk and Sans start to laugh as Papyrus hides behind his scarf.

Alex looked at the group confused. “Wait, when did-”

“you were still practicing wingdings and still couldn’t figure out what we were saying most of the time.” Sans explained. “no need to worry about it.” He ruffled Alex’s hair. The young boy looked to his friend, who shook her head and shrugged.

“It’s fine Papyrus.” Rose reassured the tall skeleton. “To be honest, if it wasn’t for Sans, we wouldn’t have known.” The two shot the shorter skeleton a glare to which he responded with tilt of his skull.

Frisk chuckled. “By the way, Rose, you look good today!”

Rose blushed and moved aside some hair away from her face. “Th-thanks.” Rose was equipped with a red beanie, a black sweater that had red sleeves once passed the elbow, blue jeans and black sneakers. “It’s pretty basic though.” Rose muttered.

“Well no one said you had to go all extravagant for today.” Kris said, sitting down on the fountain edge.

“I guess…” Rose rubbed her arm.

Alex and Violet watched the exchange, not really paying too much attention, when Alex’s eyes widened. “Oh yeah! Guess what I finally learned!” Before Violet could take a guess, Alex closed his eyes and clenched his fists, taking in a really deep breath. He threw his hands in the air, exhaling at the same speed, producing a small, canine skull next to him. The eye sockets glowed a deep orange. “This is the best I can get it for now.” Alex said, scratching the small blaster.

“Wow!” Violet admired the little blaster, before she too, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Sans and Papyrus stared in disbelief as Violet mimicked Alex’s motions to a ‘T’, summoning a blaster of her own. The eye sockets glowed a mixture of cyan, blue and purple, with a crack descending down one side of the skull, with another ascending. 

“How come yours has cracks in it?” Alex asked, hovering a hand near the newly summoned blaster.

“I’m not sure.” Violet answered. “I’ll have to ask my friend that.”

“Your friend?” Alex quirked a brow.

Violet hummed and nodded. “He taught me that language and how to summon one of these!”

“Wait really?!” Alex beamed. Violet nodded and opened her mouth to speak, but the two were interrupted by Sans ruffling the hair of both of them.

“i know the blasters are neat, but it’s best if you _don’t_ summon them in a populated space. just in case.” Sans winked his right eye, and the two looked at each other and nodded.

“Sorry.” They said as they withdrew the blasters.

“IT’S QUITE ALRIGHT YOU TWO.” Papyrus said. “BUT IT IS IMPORTANT TO LOOK OUT FOR OTHERS.”

“Speaking of looking out for others, I’m sure Rose would rather be looking at MK at this time.” Kris said smugly, earning a smack in the head from Frisk.

“We really shouldn’t keep you any longer though.” Frisk said to Rose. “You and MK have fun! We’ll meet back up for the parade.”

Rose smiled. “Sounds good.” She turned to Violet. “Stay safe, and if you have any trouble, call either Mom or Dad, got it?”

“Mhm!” Violet nodded, holding a thumbs up.

Rose glared at her sister. “Encouraging.” She shrugged and turned to leave. “Have fun you guys!” Rose waved off the group and left them to their antics. Violet turned to Sans and Papyrus.

“Are you guys joining us?”

Sans shrugged while Papyrus shook his head. “I’M JUST WAITING FOR UNDYNE. WE MEET HERE FOR A WEEKLY JOGS.”

Violet mouthed an ‘oh’ and left it at that. Alex however, kept looking around. “When does she get here?” He asked, only to get a shrug from Papyrus.

“DEPENDS, REALLY. SOMETIMES SHE NEEDS REMINDERS.” The group nodded and began to make small talk, about the events of the day, and what plans they had later.

* * *

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/-dvGTDW_bII)

A little bit aways, a thirteen year old was currently wrapping their arms with bandages. What hid beneath still shook them, and they preferred not to see them for a while. They threw on a faded purple jacket and looked themselves in the mirror. “Not great, but not bad either. It’ll work.” They muttered and took a deep breath. _“Just don’t get all stupid in Waterfall, and the day will be fine, Sam…”_ Sam exhaled and took another look in the mirror. Since Sam was living with Alphys and Undyne, they had done away with their glasses, and had started wearing contacts. How Alphys avoided getting hers busted during Undyne’s Undyne-ing was a mystery to Sam, but they didn’t want to take chances. A light purple shirt covered by a slightly darker jacket. _I need to get clothes of other colors…_ Sam thought as they looked at their torso attire. The rest were just black jeans and brown boots. Sam stepped away from the mirror and looked at a clock on the wall. “Better head out.”

Sam walked out their room and began making their way to the living room. They looked outside at the lake nearby, and smiled. They moved near the lake for Undyne’s sake, but the few times Sam decided to swim in it were fun and they wanted to do it again, but they had plans now. Undyne and Alphys were sitting in the living room, watching Mettaton’s news cast about the anniversary of monsters being free. Alphys, clad with a pink 'Mew Mew' shirt and blue jeans, glanced at Sam. “Oh yeah, y-you and the others planned f-for the underground tours!”

“Yeah, we’re meeting up at the fountain in the park.” Sam replied, grabbing their satchel from a nearby coat rack.

Undyne stood up from the couch and ruffled Sam’s hair, which was no longer as scruffy and looked more natural now, stopping at the base of the neck. “You guys have fun! And remember, you have my full permission to stab anyone who’s mean to you!” Undyne gave her trademark grin. 

Sam glanced at Alphys and then back to Undyne, who was wearing a black tank top, faded jeans and black combat boots. “Um...Mom-dyne?”

“Y-yeah, what’s up?” The two heard Alphys stifle a chuckle at Undyne’s flustered-ness of being called ‘Mom’.

“You realize it’s the fountain you and Papyrus meet up at for your jogs, right?”

“I assumed so.” Undyne said casually, not putting two and two together.

Sam blinked. “Like...The one you guys have today…”

Undyne looked up from Sam and just stood still, unblinking, for five seconds. “CRAP!!!” Undyne shouted at the top of her lungs as she raced to her room to grab her jogging supplies. Alphys and Sam looked at each other, before breaking out into laughter.

“Th-that’s Undyne for you!” Alphys said, trying to calm herself down.

“Yeah. Clover told me about the ‘Cooking Lesson’ She gave to Chara and Frisk.” Sam replied. “I wish I could’ve seen that…” Sam walked over to the couch and sat next to Alphys with a gloomy expression. “I...Really worried them…”

Alphys sighed. “I don’t know the full story of what happened, but…” She touched her pointer fingers together. “I know from ex-experience on what letting stuff l-like that control your thoughts…”

“Yeah, I heard…” Sam muttered. 

“B-but, what everyone helped me learn was that y-you can’t keep focusing on what you did wrong.” Alphys quickly said. “You learn from it, and make sure it doesn’t repeat.” She gave Sam a smile.

Sam chuckled. “That does make sense. Still, Waterfall is gonna bring back...Memories…”

“W-well, if it gets to be too much, y-you could always call Undyne to get you.” Alphys suggested.

Sam sighed. “Yeah, that’ll work. I just hope it doesn’t come to that.” They looked at Alphys and smiled. “Thanks for the pep talk, Mom.”

“No problem. That’s kind of my job now.” Alphys smiled. Somehow, she was exceedingly calm being called a ‘Mom’. Undyne came running into the living room, equipped with a fanny pack, which was full of water for her and milk for Papyrus.

“Alright, I’m good to go now!” Undyne said with a thumbs up. Sam stood up from the couch and walked up to Undyne.

“Have fun you two!” Alphys said as Undyne lifted Sam onto her shoulders.

“We will.” Sam said with confidence. They waved Alphys off while Undyne bolted out of the house in a quick sprint. How she ever had the energy to jog afterwards was an enigma, even to Alphys.

* * *

“Hey Luke, aren’t you going with your friends to the Underground Tours today?” An older boy asked, prompting Luke to briefly stop dicing some vegetables.

“Yes, but I have time to help out, and help out I will.” Luke said, getting back into dicing the few vegetables on his cutting board. “Why do you ask?” The older boy responded by pointing at the clock. Luke looked to where the other was pointing and his eyes widened. “Ah crap! I lost track of time!” Luke dropped his knife down on the board, undid his apron and took off his chef’s hat. “I don’t even have enough time to change!”

“Okay, Luke, just breathe.” The older boy instructed. “Everyone will understand and heck, Clover likes the outfit anyway, so why not throw them a bone?”

Luke gave his apparel one last look. Of all his friends, he had the least impactful change in his appearance. His hair stayed the same curly mess that it was and his outfits were standard. His chef’s apparel was as plain and simple as one could be. “I...I guess I’m sticking with this then…” Luke blushed and rubbed his arm. “I hope I’m not drastically late.”

“Even if you are, they’ll understand. They’ve gotten the time to know how you work, so you losing track of time by helping out isn’t going to cause them to yell at you.” The older boy stated, putting his hands on his hips. “If it was, you would’ve learned by now.”

Luke sighed. “I don’t understand how you can be right about stuff like this when you don't interact with people.”

“Oh haha, funny introvert joke, now are you going to head out or not?”

Luke raised his hands in the air in surrender. “I’m going! I’m going!” Luke quickly left the kitchen and made his way to the exit.

“Oh, Luke! I was wondering when you were going!” A woman said upon seeing the boy. “Are you sure you want to wear your uniform though?”

“I’m not sure if I have the time to change.” Luke quickly replied. He approached the door to the restaurant. “I’ll be sure to bring back a souvenir!” 

“Please do!” The woman waved him off and Luke exited the building.

_[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/LSb144j2R8A) _

_“I hope I’m not late, late…”_ Luke whispered to himself as he made his way down the crowded streets. The restaurant wasn’t too far from the park, but it doesn’t help that it was starting to get really busy on the streets. The anniversary has something to do with that as well, what with all the excited monsters roaming around. He smiled at the sight of them. They really improved the atmosphere of the surface. _‘I just wish other places would accept them…’_ Luke thought.

Ebott, being the home of the mountain, was the only place so far that accepted the monsters, even if there were complications. The mountain wore it’s name, so it made sense why it would feel the most guilty, and try to be the most welcoming. Outside of Ebott and it’s borders monsters were feared and as such, would be treated unfairly. They could hardly travel anywhere else unless they had some sort of importance, like being a scientist doing overseas research, like Alphys is planning on doing.

Luke sighed and buried his hands in his pockets. _Out of my control. Even Chara and Frisk can’t talk sense into anyone not from here._ He looked all around him and grinned. _As long as they’re happy…_ Luke was brought out of his thinking when he bumped into someone. He stepped back a bit and shook his head. “Sorry about that…”

“No worries. I learned to expect that from you.” 

Luke perked up and looked over the other person. ”Oh, Clover!” Luke started to blush. “Yeah, I guess you would expect that from me now…” He rubbed the back of his neck.

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/4tnJy25c5os)

Clover chuckled. “And I did. Because you for some reason or another, really like to live in your thoughts now.” Clover gave a patient smile. Like Luke, Clover’s hair hadn’t changed much, and they still wore their yellow scarf with blue polka dots. In fact, a lot of their attire still reflects their love of western themes. A plain brown sweater which was partially covered by a small, darker brown poncho, with blue jeans that were slightly rolled up at the bottom to prevent their shoes from stomping on it. In fact, their shoes were the only part of their attire that wasn’t adhering to the western theme, being black sneakers. “And someday you’re going to run into someone who will not appreciate it, because of your apparent need to live in your thoughts.”

Luke lowered his head. “I know…”

Clover frowned. They sighed and grabbed Luke by the shoulders. “Luke, I’m not mad. I’m just trying to look out for you.” They said with a gentle smile. “You don’t have a great track record when it comes to _NOT_ getting into trouble by being you.”

Luke looked at Clover with an unamused expression. “Was that supposed to make me feel better?”

Clover winced. “I’m not the best at this sort of thing...That’s Asgore’s job.” Clover sighed as Luke chuckled.

“At least you tried.” Luke smiled.

Clover smiled back. “Yeah, at least I did.” They pulled Luke close and gave him a quick kiss. After a second or two, they broke it off and Luke was a blushing mess, which caused Clover to laugh. “Geez, you’re like a secondary Alphys!”

Luke sighed, and then began to laugh himself. “That says a lot about me, doesn’t it!?” The two laughed a little longer, before continuing their trek to the park. “How is Asgore, by the way?”

“We both have good days and bad days. Today…” Clover grimaced. “Today’s a bit of a bad day for him…”

“Let me guess…” Luke said but never finished his sentence, but Clover understood him nonetheless and nodded. Luke scratched his head. “At least they’re getting less frequent. I remember he had a lot of bad days a year ago.”

“I think Papyrus’ snow maze must’ve set him straight a bit.” Clover replied, before letting out an inaudible chuckle. Once they realized they did that, they buried their face in one of their hands. “God, that was…”

Luke patted Clover’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about it. Pretty sure some people would agree with you anyway.”

Clover sighed. “Still, it was-” Clover stopped and focused on the surrounding noise. Luke did the same, as the two began hearing the sound of a running Undyne. “Huh, wonder where she-” [They were suddenly lifted off the ground and currently traveling at 50mph while being held by Undyne.](https://youtu.be/IcJ-wm0sZRs) The surrounding area was a blur to them both, and whatever was being said by Undyne and Sam was being drowned out by the two captives internally begging for their lives.

Undyne jumped in the air, over the fountain of the park, and landed perfectly on her feet, in front of the skele-bro’s, their humans and Violet, all of whom were wide eyed at the sudden Undyne. [The former captain dropped Clover and Luke on the ground, where they proceeded to curl up into themselves.](https://youtu.be/tLlNQtkDWLo) Sam fell backwards from Undyne’s shoulders and landed on their feet and then stretched. “Thanks Mom-dyne!”

“No problem, Sam!” Undyne looked over at Clover and Luke. “Sorry about that, guys!” she scratched her head. “Sam pointed you two out and-”

“You could’ve stopped and asked us first…” Luke said quickly. Clover held up their middle finger at Sam, who chuckled.

“Aw, but then I wouldn’t get to see you two like this!” They said smugly, prompting Luke to also hold up his middle finger at Sam. Undyne laughed at the scene.

“Well, at least you two are here now, so.” Undyne shrugged.

“SO UNDYNE, ARE WE ALL SET FOR OUR JOG?” Papyrus asked. Undyne held up her fanny pack and Papyrus smiled. “AH GOOD, THEN WE SHALL BE OFF!” Papyrus grabbed his scarf and yanked it off, changing immediately to his ‘Jog Boy’ attire...Somehow. Frisk, Alex, Kris and violet chose not to question it, Luke and Clover weren’t paying attention but Sam would always look on with a bemused expression.

“See ya, guys! You know who to call if there’s problems.” Undyne looked at Sam solemnly. “That goes double for you.” She said somberly.

“I know, but I’m going to try and not let that happen.” Sam smiled. Undyne ruffled their hair, and the fish and skeleton went off for their jog. Frisk approached the three and looked down at Clover and Luke.

“You guys good?” She asked.

“No…” The two replied in unison.

* * *

“Chara, are you done yet?” A grumpy Golden Flower asked. “Cass and Alyssa were done before you!” The flower continued. “I swear if you-”

[(BGM)](https://youtu.be/ub6S8jgS2G0)

“Well, at least as a flower, you actually speak your damn mind now.” Chara said, walking out of the bathroom. The young fifteen year old was equipped with a denim jacket with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, with wristbands covering a small portion of the scars he had on his arms. A plain yellow shirt, with a heart locket covering a small portion by his neck, grey pants and black shoes. His hair, like Frisk's, was now shorter, stopping just at the base of his neck, with two small tufts of hair reaching down to his chin and his bangs hovered slightly over his right eye, and as per usual, was a slight, spiky mess, rivaled only by Kris. “If you were Asriel you’d be waiting by the door looking panicked without saying anything.”

Flowey cringed. “God, I was an idiot…” He chuckled as Chara picked up his pot. “So, what are you looking forward to most back at the underground?”

“Probably how they handled the history section in Waterfall.” Chara answered swiftly as they entered the hallway. “There’s plenty of information that could be taken out of context or seem offensive to humans, so…” Chara sighed. “I just hope this doesn’t backfire.” The two descended down the stairs in silence.

“It’ll be fine…” Flowey muttered. “After...What happened...I’m sure people don’t want a repeat…”

Chara rubbed his eyes. “I hope so…” The two walked outside where Toriel, Cass and Alyssa were waiting. 

“Finally.” Alyssa sighed. “And I thought I was going to be the one who took forever.” Alyssa waved an arm over herself, showing off her outfit, which consisted of a white cotton sweater, a blue skirt that reached the knees, brown boots with black leggings. Her hair, which reached just a small ways past her shoulders, was brushed finely, giving it a silky smooth appearance.

“Honestly, neither you or Chara wear anything that could take time to put on.” Flowey replied. “Pretty sure Cass is the closest contender.” The flower pointed a leaf at Cass, who was wearing a purple jumper with pinks stripes, brown boots and white leggings with pink polka dots. Her platinum hair was tied up into pigtails, which were fairly plain, and she wore a floral patterned face mask.

“But...She doesn’t wear anything complex either!” Alyssa protested.

“Technically, the pigtails could take up some time to do.” Cass pointed out. Alyssa conceded as Toriel began chuckling.

“Now, my children, we don’t want to be late!” Toriel said opening the car door. The boss monster was currently equipped with a grey sweater and black pants, covered by a Delta Rune robe. Chara sat up front with Toriel and Flowey while Cass and Alyssa sat in the back. “Does everyone have their seatbelts on?” Toriel asked, sweeping around the car. Everyone spoke the affirmative, with Flowey being held by Chara. “Then let’s head off!” Toriel turned the key and the car growled to life. She slowly made her way out of the driveway and onto the road.

Flowey looked outside the window at the passing monsters, humans and buildings. “I had a pretty weird dream last night.”

“What was it about?” Cass asked.

“Basically, everyone was back underground, except there were more of me, and we were all acting like the Temmies-”

“That does sound weird.” Alyssa chuckled.

“But, then I saw one Temmie, and it was acting like me, except, for some reason, it was avoiding Asgore, who was in the Ruins, showing Chara and Frisk around, but he was acting like he had never seen Chara before.”

“My, that is…” Toriel mumbled.

“It gets weirder. Eventually, the two made it out of the Ruins and went into Snowdin, and...Papyrus was in Sans’ place, being all...Laid back and, he was smoking a cigarette...Somehow...And Sans was the Papyrus in the situation and then I woke up…” Flowey shook his head. “I...It was weird.”

“It definitely sounded weird, but with the Sans and Papyrus part of it, that just sounds like Alex and Kris if they were actual skeletons.” Chara said with a chuckle.

“Well yeah, but what about the rest?” Flowey asked.

“Maybe it was just some random thought.” Alyssa said. “Maybe something in your mind was curious about what that would be like!” She smiled innocently.

“Yeah! Maybe a part of you wondered what it’d be like if there were others like you!” Cass said.

“But the Temmie part is…” Toriel began mumbling. “Well, I’m sure if Asgore was in the Ruins, the monsters would be less scared of him, so that part doesn't really make sense.” She said somberly.

“Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything, but you weren’t really the most..." Flowey paused, trying to find his words, before he huffed and blurted out. "Yeah you scared the monster in the Ruins…”

“I am aware of that.” Toriel replied. “I was never much of a people person, even as queen.”

Chara chuckled. “Yeah, you were more of a numbers person, so you were the one who checked in on the scientist more often!” 

Toriel sighed. “I do wonder what would have happened if me and him switched positions…”

“I’d imagine people would be more depressed, that’s for sure.” Flowey replied, breaking out into a laugh, only to then get flicked in the face by Chara.

“Not cool.”

Toriel chuckled. “It is quite alright my child! With me in charge I’m sure that people wouldn’t have as much hope…” 

“Mom…” Chara drawled. Toriel maneuvered the car into a parking space and everyone opened the doors and exited the car. Toriel scanned the surrounding area and made a noise of excitement. 

“There they are!” She said, pointing towards the others, who were gathered by the tall fountain. The group made their way to the others. Frisk looked at the approaching group and ran up to meet them. She stopped in front of Chara.

“You’re here!” She said, taking one of Chara’s hands. “The wait felt like forever!”

“I can imagine.” Flowey replied. “So what’s new?”

“Well, Undyne and Sam helped bring Luke and Clover to the destination against their will.” Frisk said, chuckling.

“Ha! How did they fare?”

“They were pretty miserable.” The three chuckled and everyone stood in front of the fountain. Alyssa made her way to Sam immediately and Cass joined up with Alex and Violet. Frisk, Chara, Flowey, Kris, Luke and Clover sat on the fountain edge while Toriel approached Sans.

“Thank you again, Sans for agreeing to be the chaperone!” Toriel said with a smile. Frisk, Alex and Kris glared at Sans.

“Wait, you’re our chaperone?” Kris asked.

“heh, guess i am.” Sans shrugged and winked.

“You could’ve told us!” Alex cried out.

“but then i wouldn’t get to see your reactions.” Sans replied. “besides, i needed to go down there anyway to grab some things for alphys, so why not make sure you guys are safe while i'm at it?"

Kris rolled their eyes. "Sans, the best you do to make sure we're safe is-"

"the point is," Sans interrupted Kris. "someone needs to make sure you all behave. and since paps is busy jogging, there was only a few responsible options."

“Either way, thank you for agreeing to it.” Toriel said. “I was going to ask Asgore at first but…” Toriel tilted her head and made a face. “He did not really sound up to it.”

“Well for starters, it’s going to be a while before he feels comfortable seeing the underground again.” Clover explained. “And today is...Not a good day for him anyway…” They looked at the floor.

Toriel sighed. “I suppose I should come to expect that now.” She turned to Sans. “If anything happens, just give me a call, okay?”

“hear you loud and clear.” Sans gave a thumbs up.

“Good.” She turned to the humans (and Flowey). “You all have fun now, you hear?”

“We will!” Chara said with a smile. Everyone waved Toriel off and she went back to her car and drove off. Chara looked to the other humans while Flowey looked at the ground, groaning.

“Can’t believe we’re stuck with smiley trashbag…”

“you’re still calling me that?” Sans asked.

“I have my reasons.” Flowey growled. Chara stood up from his spot and the others followed suit.

“Before we get sidetracked by Flowey, we should head over to Mt. Ebott.”

“Yeah, I’m getting restless!” Alex said, bouncing up and down.

“I want to see the underground!” Violet said.

“I’d hate to miss out on the tours after all our planning.” Frisk said sheepishly.

“Yeah, I guess we should head off now.” Flowey conceded.

“That would be best.” Clover replied.

“well then, if we’re all in agreement-”

“We are!” Everyone said in unison.

Sans chuckled. “then we should head out then.”

“Let me guess, we’re taking a shortcut?” Kris asked.

“am i that obvious?” Sans asked.

“Occasionally.” Flowey replied.

“huh..." Sans hummed, before he shrugged. "well, like Kris said, i know a shortcut.” Sans ushered the group to follow him, leading them through the park and behind the same rock him and the others emerged from. The large group disappeared from the rock, and emerged nearby the entrance to the mountain, leading to the Ruins. “here we are.”

Chara looked around at all the other monsters and humans in line to tour the underground. “Heh, this is turning out better than I expected!”

“That’s good!” Frisk said. “Hopefully this will encourage tourists to talk about monsters in a positive light!”

“Key word is: Hopefully.” Flowey pointed out.

“alright, so, you guys ready to see how the underground’s been?”

“Yes!” The group said in sync. Sans grinned and turned towards the entrance.

“in that case, let’s go pay it a visit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2 left...


	65. Preparations!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 📂︎ ☹︎☜︎☞︎❄︎

**‘WELCOME TO SNOWDIN TOWN!’**

The group walked past the giant welcoming sign into the snow covered small town. Humans and Monsters alike were roaming down the small paths and looking through the shops, which only got a re-done paint job and remained true to their original purpose. Sans looked around at the town from the entrance, smiling even wider. “looks brand new, yet at the same time, just how we left it.” Sans quirked his head to the northernmost part of the town, where the wolf would be throwing ice to cool down the CORE. “by the way, how’d you solve the little ‘prevent the core from overheating problem?’” 

“Oh, we just extended the conveyor belt so the ice blocks drop into the water.” Chara responded without hesitation. “By the way, what did you need to grab for Alphys?"

“something secret." Sans responded, shrugging. "but let's not worry about that for now. let's just enjoy the sights of snowdin town before moving on to waterfall." Sans winked, which made Alex, Kris, Frisk, and Flowey all raise a brow in suspicion. Sans didn't notice them however, and just made his way into the town without a care in the world.

“Whatever it is he's here for, he's on edge because of it…” Flowey muttered.

“What makes you say that?” Clover asked. “Usual paranoia?”

“He winked with his right eye.” Alex said plainly.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Alyssa asked, beginning to walk into the town. The group walked as Kris shook their head.

“Well usually he winks his left eye, which is his most useful eye.” They explained. “When he winks with his right, it means he’s on edge.”

“How’d you find that out?” Flowey asked. “I mean, everyone would know why I would know but-”

“Papyrus told us.” Frisk answered, before pausing to admire the tree in the middle of the town. “He told us after Alex noticed the first time he asked Sans to drive him to the Library.”

“Huh.” Luke looked to the blue wearing skeleton, who was looking solemnly at his old house. “Just when I thought I understood him.”

“Yeah, Sans is still an enigma, even for Papyrus.” Kris chuckled.

“Does that mean Sans knows everything about Papyrus, but not the other way around?” Violet asked Alex, who shook his head.

“Surprisingly, no.” 

“That seems…” Cass trailed off. “What’s the word I’m looking for?”

“Unhealthy?” Flowey suggested. “You have a point though.”

Sam hummed in thought. “But why not just say what he's here for?"

Flowey shook his head and shrugged. "That's smiley for ya."

_Ring...Ring…_

The group looked around at each other before Frisk realized it was her phone that was ringing. She pulled the phone from her pocket and checked for the reasoning, only to wince immediately afterwards. “Bad news guys, there’s only a couple hours before the festival starts.”

“Wait, really?!” Chara pulled his phone from his pockets and looked at the time. Flowey stretched to see the time too, and they both winced as well. “Damn. We just got to Snowdin Town." Chara put his phone away and pinched his nose with a sigh. "We ended up being here longer than we thought.”

“If it wasn’t for all those people stopping to get signatures from a couple of certain Ambassadors, we’d have been halfway through Waterfall.” flowey grumbled. Chara and Frisk looked at each other and sighed. Flowey had a point.

“So does that mean we have to leave early?” violet asked, staring up at the group with a sense of sadness.

“Most likely.” Kris answered. “Chara and Frisk need to practice their speech to make sure it's good and they also need to get changed into their ambassador outfits, and-” They stopped after seeing the look on Violet’s face.

“We have to reschedule this, don’t we?” Cass asked, looking up at Alyssa.

“Most likely." Alyssa replied simply. "Shouldn’t be too hard, though. The tours aren’t just a one time thing.” 

"Looks like I'll have to get Mom a souvenir some other time..." Luke muttered. "I doubt a snow globe from Snowdin would make a good one..." 

Chara chuckled. "Yeah, the souvenir's get better the further you go in!"

Sam let out a sigh. “I guess we should have seen this coming…” They looked around for Sans. “Well, like Lys said, we could always reschedule this. _Where is that lazybones…?”_

Everyone began looking around the whole of the town. There wasn’t a single Sans in sight. The group split up and asked the other tourists, and not a single one in the area saw the skeleton, and many of them kept changing the topic to the Ambassadors, trying to get their autograph's. The group reconvened at the tree in the middle of the town. Clover pointed back at the skele-bro’s old house. “He wasn’t at his old place. He was there earlier before we needed him and now, poof.” Clover sighed.

“Whatever he came down here for, he probably took a shortcut to get it over with.” Luke theorized. “Which would mean, he’s probably in Hotland.”

“Or his secret cellar!” Cass suggested, dragging out the last syllables. “Which he has the key for, and leaves locked…” It was her turn to sigh.

“Alright, what’s the best way to get his attention?” Alyssa asked. She glanced at Frisk, Chara, Alex, Kris and Flowey, who knew the skeleton the best. “Any suggestions?”

Frisk sighed and pulled out her phone. "I'll just call Papyrus, since he can also use shortcuts..."

“Then what do we do about Sans?” Alex asked.

“He’ll figure out where we went.” Kris replied, before pulling out their phone and grinning widely. “Because I’m gonna spam his phone so when he finally looks at it he’ll realize he messed up.” Everyone else in the group facepalmed, save for Flowey, who was beaming.

“That has got to be the greatest thing I’ve ever heard!”

* * *

“i know you keep it here somewhere, old man…” Sans muttered as he searched through the drawers of his ‘secret’ room. At this point, after the amount of people who’ve seen the inside of it, he had trouble calling it a secret. He moved a few piles of paper away from within one of the drawers, and felt something plastic within. “gotcha.” Sans pulled the object out of the drawer and looked it over. A black keycard. “ok, hard part’s over. just need to get to the lower sections of the true lab, and finding what i’m looking for will be a cinch.” Sans chuckled. “even when you managed to keep me from using shortcuts to get in, i always did…this time i need to get in to find your artificial soul research for alphys, which i guess would be for the second time.” Sans sighed.

“all that ‘remembering the other timelines’ junk is starting to get confusing. first i had to get my knowledge second hand from the machines reports, now we, for some reason, have full memory…” Sans walked out from the room and used a shortcut to get into the true lab. He made his way to the elevator in the middle and inserted the keycard inside a small slot near the buttons. A small beep and a green light shone next to the slot after a few seconds. Sans pocketed the keycard and pressed the down button on the elevator. “gettin’ told by a machine i died in a previous timeline is one thing, but remembering it fully is a goddamn trip in itself.” Sans muttered as the elevator slowly made it’s descent to the lower levels of the lab. “wonder if alphys knew about this section…”

He shrugged as the elevator stopped and opened their doors to the darkened halls of the lower section of the true lab. Sans knew this section by heart, so he didn’t bother turning on the lights. Besides, according to Alphys and some workers, that glitchy amalgamate was still around, and Sans didn’t want to deal with being constantly bothered by it. “just need to get those research papers, then i’ll be outta here.” Sans reminded himself.

He stepped out of the elevator, and made a quick right turn. Down the hall, he passed through several doors, many of which led to experiments that Gaster had yet to fully test. One room led to a laser cutter. Sans stared at it for a minute, taking in the full sight. The machine was built into the wall, with a large section of it protecting the inner workings, before the laser cutter itself stared down the lower section, which slightly burnt. “all that work, just to test out a theory, that proved half correct.” Sans muttered to himself, clutching his hand. “gotta say though, that was pretty hardcore of you.”

Sans walked past another room, which held a failed barrier breaking experiment, which was yet another laser, yet it could be moved around freely thanks to the wheels. However, it was deemed a failure. “still want to know why that was…” He walked inside another room, which held a single deactivated tube of water. Sans sighed and walked towards it. “hey, how’s it going? haven’t seen me in awhile.” Sans chuckled. “if these projects and machines could talk…” Sans made his way out of the room, but froze, as a deep, slowed laugh rang out inside the compact area. Sans took a deep breath. “yep. nope. not dealing with that shit…” He left the room, not wanting to provoke whatever it was that laughed.

He continued down the hall, as the laugh continued to ring out. He glanced at the wall, and then back at the floor once he saw the rusted, metal walls slowly close in on themselves. _what the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck?_ He managed to push aside his casualness and picked up his pace. He glanced at the walls one last time before entering the next room, and saw the source of the laughter. Three small sections of the wall slowly started to expand, and open up like a face. One stared at the skeleton directly, with white pinpricks in the dark like Sans’ own eye lights, and human teeth. The next two were plain black, and just laughed at the adjacent wall. Sans retreated into the room and shut the doors.

“i really wish he didn’t add those shortcut prevention measures now…” Sans muttered, dreading the thought of having to re-enter the hallway. _okay, he kept the research in the third drawer of the second cabinet…_ Sans thought to himself. _or was it the third cabinet, second drawer?_ He shrugged and checked both possibilities. He opened the third drawer of the second cabinet and flipped through the files. _“souls, souls, souls…”_ Sans hovered a phalange over the titles of each file, none of which matching his query. 

“ok, so it was the third cabinet then.” He shut the drawer and moved on to the next cabinet. He opened the second drawer and mimicked his actions. He stopped at one file. ‘The process of creating an Artificial SOUL, and the uses they could provide' “bingo.” Sans pulled the file out and opened it up. “aaannnnd i need to translate it from wing dings, of fucking course i do…” He sighed. “wing ding aster. your last name is aster, and you can speak in aster, so just write your god damn notes in aster for asgore’s sake.”

Sans pulled out his phone and opened it up, only for his eyes to darken when he saw the messages from Kris.

‘hey sans, turns out we were here longer than planned, and you disappeared on us, like an ass, so we called papyrus to pick us up :P’

“oops…”. He pulled up his messaging app and scrolled to Alphys’ name. 

‘sup al? i got the research but its written in wingdings so i also need to translate it’

Sans put his phone away, not even bothering to wait for a reply, and made his way to the doors. “maybe paps can do some of the translating for the wingdings…” He opened the doors and was met with the glitchy amalgamate, staring at him with it's many hollow eyes, and causing his phone to start ringing. He never answered it, since he was too busy making a hole in the wall with his blaster.

* * *

Sans walked into the house to the sight of Alex and Papyrus painting a picture from a Bob Ross video while Kris laid on the couch playing on their phone and eating a pocky stick. The shorter skeleton sighed, which fully grabbed Papyrus’ attention. The taller skeleton paused the video and faced Sans. “THERE YOU ARE, BROTHER! THE OTHERS WERE LUCKY I COULD ALSO USE SHORTCUTS, WHERE’D YOU DISAPPEAR TO?!”

Sans held up the file of research papers. “needed to get this for alphys. TIBIA-honest, i didn’t know what time it was when i left to get it.” Kris and Alex chuckled while Papyrus sighed and his gloved hand across his face. 

“STILL, THAT WAS A RISKY MOVE. LUCKILY, THANKS TO MY HELP, FRISK AND CHARA ARE SAFELY AT ASGORE’S PLACE, PRACTICING THEIR SPEECH FOR LATER.” Papyrus struck a pose.

Sans chuckled. “i guess it helps having such a cool brother around the house.” Papyrus let out a hearty ‘Nyeh heh!’ before turning his attention back to the painting. Kris turned their head to the file Sans was holding.

“So, what’s in the file?” They asked impatiently.

“wow, straight to the point, eh?” Sans replied, prompting a shrug from Kris. He sighed and set the file down on the table. “it’s research papers. specifically, on the nature of artificial souls, how they can be made and how they can be used. alphys thought they’d be helpful for helping flowey, become not flowey, after i brought them up one day.” Sans explained.

“OH, THAT’S PERFECT! BUT…” Papyrus raised a brow ridge. “WHY DIDN’T YOU DROP THEM OFF AT ALPHYS’ PLACE?” 

“it’s in wing dings, so she won’t be able to understand it.” Sans replied swiftly. “figured you and i could translate it together.”

Papyrus’ eye sockets went wide. “OH MY GOD, THAT’S A BRILLIANT IDEA SANS!!” Papyrus lifted Sans up in the air with a hug, before putting him back on the ground. “I DO HOWEVER HOPE YOU’LL ACTUALLY DO SOME OF THE WORK, AND NOT JUST EXPECT ME TO DO IT MYSELF.” The tall skeleton said sternly.

“relax paps, i’ll help you with the translating, i promise.”

“GOOD, BECAUSE-”

[ _Ring...Ring…_ ](https://youtu.be/woPff-Tpkns)

Sans took his phone out of his pocket and saw that Frisk was calling him. “huh, wonder what this is about…”

* * *

“Do you want to keep the pig tails or do you just want to let your hair flow freely for tonight?” Alyssa asked Cass, running a thick brush through the little girls hair. Cass twirled her mask in her fingers while humming.

“I think I’ll let flow freely for tonight.” Cass finally answered. “It takes a while to get the pig tails how I like it so…”

Alyssa nodded. “Understood!” Alyssa continued brushing Cass’ hair as the younger girl kicked her feet in the air. “So what are you looking forward to the most for tonight, and no, Frisk and Chara’s speech doesn’t count.” Alyssa deadpanned.

“Why not?” Cass pouted.

“Because you said that last year.” The older girl replied. “Besides, you had a blast with Mettaton and Napstablook’s performance and there were a few games you enjoyed too, so I just figured you’d list one of those off instead.”

“Besides, it’s gonna be the same jargon as last year with their speech anyway!” Flowey commented from the window seal, taking the last few rays of sunlight before it goes down.

“That’s…” Alyssa sighed. “Actually you have a point there.”

“You don’t know that for sure…” Cass said somberly.

“Actually I do.” Flowey replied. “Because I asked Chara and he literally told me that it's the same speech, just with some slight differences.” Cass side eyed the flower. “Don’t look at me like that! It’s not like anyone’s going to care. From what I could tell, all sorts of politicians do the same speech, they just take their own spin on it!” Flowey huffed.

“Well, on the bright side for some of us, the speech isn’t mandatory for everyone to spectate, so we can get to the fun stuff faster!” Alyssa set down the brush and went to the couch as Cass put her mask back on.

“Frisk and Chara join the group after the speech while Ms. Toriel and Asgore make their own, so wouldn’t it be smart to spectate their speech so they can see us?” Cass asked.

“Yeah, like they’re going to lose sight of Papyrus and Undyne.” Flowey snarked. “Those two are practically walking beacons. Trust me, Chara and Frisk will not lose sight of us.”

Cass narrowed her eyes. “Fiiiiine…”

Alyssa giggled. “Anyway, Alex just texted and said that Sans got chewed out by Frisk because of something he did back in the underground, which led to Papyrus chewing him out as well, so he texted Sam to see if Undyne and Alphys can give us a ride to the festival instead.”

“What exactly did Sans do…?” Cass asked.

“Smiley trashbag did something, I’m shocked…” Flowey said sarcastically.

“Let’s see…” Alyssa typed on her phone and stared it down. Cass walked over to Flowey to bring him to the living room.

“By the way, Flowey, what does sunlight taste like?” Cass tilted her head.

“Radiation and fire.” Flowey replied swiftly. “Radiation tastes like purple, and fire tastes like orange.” Cass tilted her head and gave Flowey a questioning look, but before she could demand clarification, Alyssa started to laugh wildly. Flowey looked at the older girl and mimicked Cass’ questioning look. “Alright, what did smiley do that’s making you laugh?”

“So apparently, Sans blew a hole in Hotland somewhere under the excuse that he ‘got scared’, and-” Alyssa struggled to contain more laughter. “Just the thought of Sans getting scared by something is-” She failed to contain her laughter.

Flowey chuckled, but didn’t get into anymore laughter and Cass was just confused. Flowey looked up at the girl and shrugged the best a flower could shrug. “Whenever he gets scared he immediately summons a blaster to do it’s job.”

“Oh…” Cass replied. “I...Still don’t get what’s funny…”

Alyssa wiped a tear away and sighed. “Anyway, Sam texted before Alex and said that they're on their way, so we should wait outside for them.”

“Why wait outside?” Cass raised a brow.

“Because it’s either have Undyne see us outside and know not to crash into the wall, or have Undyne crash into the wall, and send most of the people involved to the hospital.” Flowey answered. Cass looked at him questioningly, but Alyssa nodded at his statement. “Besides, saves us a trip from her to outside when they show up and it makes sure that they remain seated to also save time.”

“That too…” Alyssa said, pointing to Flowey, but mainly the first statement.” The trio made their way to the front door and into the yard. Alyssa locked the door with a set of keys she had, and glanced at her phone. “Anyway, Clover is getting a ride with Luke’s family, so we should be able to meet up in the parking garage at the same time.”

“Good, I’d hate to miss out on some of the activities because of the lines.” Cass said.

“I’d hate to wait in general.” Flowey said, rolling his beady eyes. 

“Speaking of, how long until Sam, Undyne and Alphys get here?” Cass asked, before the answer made itself present by the screeching tires and indigo convertible nearly getting overturned in front of the house. The car fell back onto it’s tires with a large thunk, and Sam lifted their head from the back seat, looking very carsick. Alyssa turned to Cass with an innocent smile.

“About two seconds.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, this chapter took so long to get done!  
> I re-wrote it so many times before I got it to a point to where I liked it. (Which is why it ended the way it did.)  
> Sorry for the wait. God writing this seemed so much easier in November...What happened...?
> 
> Anyway, the next and last chapter will probably be even longer, as I decided that I want to go back and edit the previous chapters.  
> See I've played the Waterfall update of Undertale: Bits and Pieces, which is an Undertale mod that seeks to enhance the overall experience. It's redoing sprites, adding some features from Deltarune (Running and that overworld SOUL thing)…  
> Well, I can't really properly explain the details, but there are videos on Youtube you could look up to see.
> 
> During the edits, I'm going to incorporate some of those updated visuals and details up to Waterfall, and then update them some more when Hotland is finished and so on. I'm also going to fix up Frisk and Chara's earlier design descriptions and later design descriptions as well. I'm going to edit the chapters 3 at a time and I already did chapters 1-3. I may always go back and make more edits, but that's probably a given, especially with Chara's life story...  
> Once I feel like the edits are good enough, I'll get to work on the next chapter. Sorry again for the wait on this one.  
> I may add some stories to the Short Stories series as well. I have a few ideas but I wanted to get this chapter done beforehand.
> 
> First chapter of 2021! Stay Hopeful for it to be at least marginally better than last year, and stay Determined!


	66. Bring it in, guys! (Epilogue)

Sans lazily gazed around at the other parked cars, while Papyrus was losing a bit of his patience trying to find a free parking space. Kris and Alex were both barely clinging to consciousness, given how one or other kept nodding off before jolting themselves awake. Sans sighed loudly, to both let Papyrus know he was still looking, and out of annoyance. “man, it seems like all the perking spaces are taken-parking spaces…” Sans pinched his nose ridge at the slip up, mentally sighing in anguish, when the slight snicker of Papyrus had gotten everyone’s attention.

Kris let out a soft chuckle. “Last time this happened, there was a big game at the ballperk.” Papyrus snickered again, which was brightening everyone else's moods.

“Maybe we should look for a perking attendant.” Alex suggested, earning a full chuckle from Papyrus.

“too bad we can’t teleperk the car in a spot, huh?” Sans said in a tone of wishful thinking, getting Papyrus and the others to all chuckle.

“Maybe there’ll be a perking space in another level of the perking garage.” Kris chuckled out, causing the others to laugh, with Papyrus struggling to keep his in.

“GUYS, PLEASE! I’M TRYING TO DRIVE!” Papyrus finally pleaded. “I DON’T WANT TO CAUSE AN ACCIDENT!” The others calmed down and all sighed, with Papyrus letting loose a slight laugh.

“sorry, paps, but with there being seemingly no parking spaces, the morale was drastically low.” Sans explained with slight renewed boredom. “i honestly wasn’t expecting that reaction to my slip up.”

“It was a funny slip up though!” Kris assured with more life in their voice. 

“I’ve heard funnier, but we did all need a boost.” Alex replied, looking out for a parking space. Kris raised a brow and hummed.

“Ok, then, what’s the funniest slip up you’ve heard then?”

Alex chuckled. “Well, one time me and my dad were driving somewhere, and he pointed out a bar, and said that they served wedges of lime with the drinks, but he mixed up the words and said ‘ledges of wime.’” The car erupted into laughter again, with Papyrus not even trying to keep his in.

“Ok,” Kris said in between laughs, wiping a tear from their eye. “that is pretty funny!”

“there’s one.” Sans pointed a phalange towards an empty spot in between an indigo convertible with it’s hood up and a forest green mini-van, both parked up near a wall. “actually, i think that’s undyne’s car…” Sans added, scratching his skull.

“And I think that mini-van belongs to Luke’s mom.” Kris added, looking around the surrounding area as Papyrus back into the space. “Hopefully they’re nearby.”

“I’ll text Alyssa to see where they are.” Alex offered, taking out his phone. The moment the car’s engine stopped, the driver’s side door was opened and Papyrus was yanked out by an Undyne, and thrown up in their air with a friendship suplex. Alex and Kris chuckled. “Or Undyne will be waiting to flank us.” He said as he opened the door. He watched on as Papyrus descended to the ground with a handstand, followed by a backflip onto his feet.

“AH UNDYNE, GOOD TO KNOW YOU WERE WAITING!” Papyrus exclaimed the moment he was on his feet. He glanced around and raised a brow ridge. “WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?”

Undyne, now sporting a leather jacket above her tank top, pointing over her shoulder. “They’re waiting above ground. I told them I’d stay behind and wait for you guys.” She gave a wide grin. Kris hummed at Undyne’s explanation.

“But how’d you know we’d park here?” They asked.

“I scared everyone else away from taking it.” Undyne replied simply, like it was a normal thing to do. Which for her, it was.

“WELL, AT THE VERY LEAST, NOW WE JUST NEED TO CATCH UP WITH THE OTHERS.” Papyrus stated, getting back to the main issue at hand. “SHALL WE PART?”

“What kind of question is that?” Undyne asked, before grabbing the taller skeleton’s wrist. “OF COURSE WE DO!!” Undyne sprinted off with Papyrus in tow, leaving the others behind. Kris and Alex looked to Sans for a shortcut, to which the skeleton nodded without a word being said, before Undyne came sprinting back. “Right...You guys need to come with.”

* * *

“How’s that?” Frisk asked, holding a thin white ribbon around Chara’s waist. “Too tight?”

Chara shook his head. “Feels fine.” Frisk sighed in relief and began tying the ribbon properly. Chara stared at himself in the mirror, admiring the Ambassador Outfits he and Frisk have, or as Chara likes to call the apparel, the Dreemurr Apparel. A purple tunic emblazoned with the Delta Rune, atop a white sweater and covering up to the thigh of their black pants. Their shoes were replaced by boots the same color of the tunic, and the outfits themselves feel complete with the heart lockets the two wore around their necks. Chara sighed as Frisk finished tying the ribbon. “I swear, I could fall asleep in this outfit.” Chara ran a hand on the sleeves, savoring the soft texture. “They’re like formal pajamas…”

Frisk giggled. “In fact, you almost did fall asleep in them during meetings…” She handed Chara a second ribbon, to which he took and tied it to her waist. “Then again, those were pretty boring meetings, since most of the time we don’t even get a say in them…” Frisk sighed and sat down on a nearby chair when Chara finished tying the ribbon. “I just wish some of the others took us seriously.”

Chara sat down next to Frisk and rested a hand on her shoulder. “Me too, but we’re still only teens.” He looked down at the floor. “Plus we were basically just handed the position instead of being voted into it.” Frisk leaned into Chara without a word. Chara sighed and rested his head on hers, while holding her in a half hug. “They’ll learn eventually. We’ve been serious about everything so far, and they _DID_ approve of making the underground tour-able.” Chara and Frisk both let out a soft chuckle. “So it shouldn’t be too long before we’re taken more seriously by the others.”

Frisk smiled and looked up at Chara. “Did you wing that one too?”

Chara made a face. “Wha-Frisk come on, I was on a roll there!” Frisk laughed while Chara’s face flushed red. “Frisk…”

“I’m sorry!” Frisk tried to calm herself down. “But after last time, it’s hard to tell if you’re just winging it or have actually thought your responses down!” She looked up at Chara, who was still pretty embarrassed. Frisk sighed and lifted her head from his shoulder and turned his head to look him in the eye. “Please don’t feel embarrassed...Even if you do wing it, your little pep talks always make me feel better.” She smiled, which got a smile from Chara in return.

“And yours help too. Even if yours are more thought out…” The two chuckled and then shared a kiss that lasted for a few seconds. The two separated, and then looked each other in the eyes longingly, leaning into another kiss, which had quickly turned heated. Frisk held Chara's head by his cheeks, while Chara wrapped his arms around her waist. One of the two-maybe both-opened their mouth a little before going back into the kiss and then repeating the action. Frisk grinned as she managed to knock Chara onto his back, taking full hold of his head by his cheeks, and tilting her head to deepen the kiss.

Chara made no attempt to try and lift Frisk off, the warmth and softness of Frisk’s lips on his own, mixed with the soft texture of his outfit increasing with Frisk’s natural softness was like a paralytic, making his arms go limp, and fall to Frisk’s lower back. Frisk relented and separated their lips to take a small breather, with the remaining connection being a line of saliva between the two’s mouths. Chara gave a small whimper which quickly turned into a satisfied purr as Frisk continued the kiss, altering the pressure, and gently increasing and decreasing the level of suction. The two drifted, euphoria making the world around them an unfocused blur. A sudden knock on the door broke the two out of their trance, and they separated their lips with a pop of displaced vacuum, leaving the two mere inches away from the other’s face, breathing heavily.

_“My children, the limo from the embassy is here to take us to the festival!”_ Toriel answered from the other side of the door. _“When you’re ready, come meet us outside!”_

The sound of Toriel’s footsteps leaving the door seemed to be drowned out at the combined breaths and heartbeats of the two humans, the latter quickening further as the two finally took notice of their current position, their faces gaining various shades of red. Frisk quickly got off Chara, and helped him stand up. The two remained still in a deep silence that filled the whole room. Chara cleared his throat and kept his eyes glued to the floor, while scratching the back of his head. “So...That, uh, happened…”

Frisk pushed aside a strand of hair from her face and nodded. “Yeah...It, uh, did…” She chuckled nervously. “I guess…” The silence surrounding the two deepened. Frisk took hold of Chara’s hand and clutched it with a smile. “But, I will admit, it was kinda nice…”

Chara gave a small smile and let out an inaudible chuckle. “It was nice, I’ll give you that!” The two shared a laugh, and leaned in for one last kiss, that wasn’t quite as heated, but still ending with a small pop as they separated. Chara made his way to the door and took hold of the knob. “Better not keep them waiting.”

Frisk nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, it’d look bad if we’re late.” They exited the room and made their way down some stairs and outside of Asgore’s house, which doubled as a flower shop, and met up with the two boss monsters, discussing the festival next to the limo. While Toriel looked a bit more formal in her robe, Asgore wore a simple Delta run emblazoned sweater with lighter sleeves and simple purple-ish grey pants. A small portion of his hair was tied into a ponytail and he took to wearing a pair of rounded glasses. Frisk was still slightly put off by the fact that Asgore was on the more heavy side than his armor made him out to be. Toriel took sight of the Co-Ambassadors and smiled. 

“Ah, I guess this means we’re all good to go!” Toriel opened the door and gestured for the humans to enter first. The two took a step forward when Asgore cleared his throat.

“Um, you two might want to wipe your faces off.” He pointed to the spot in question using his own face as a source, and when the two hovered a hand over the spot on their own, their faces went beet red as they wiped their faces off. Asgore raised a brow, and looked to Toriel, who was also confused, before it suddenly clicked in their heads, resulting in the two boss monsters staring down the Co-Ambassadors with smug expressions. Frisk climbed into the limo in a hurry while Chara stood in place for longer, clutching his fists.

“Not. One. Word…” He muttered as he entered the vehicle. The boss monsters broke out into a laugh. Asgore wiped a tear from his eye and stepped inside the limo.

“Well, I’d say my mood has been improved!” He said with a laugh as he sat down. Frisk and Chara averted their eyes from the two monsters, even as Toriel entered and closed the door.

Toriel was reduced to a fit of giggles, before she tried, and mostly succeeded, to take on a serious expression. “As long as you two know not to go further until marriage.”

“Not…” Chara muttered angrily, with a bright red face.

“One…” Frisk added, in the same tone as Chara, face also bright red.

“WORD!” The two finished simultaneously, prompting even more laughter from the two boss monsters.

The rest of the trip was mostly silent, with the only hints of sound being Toriel and Asgore talking about the latter's appearance. Frisk and Chara watched on, but offered no say in the matter. They stayed silent and held on to each other's hand, and leaning on one another. After a half hour or so, the limo stopped. Frisk and Chara stretched as soon as they exited the limo, which was parked conveniently nearby the stage in which their speech would take place. Asgore and Toriel followed shortly afterwards, the latter still shaking her head with disappointment. “I still cannot believe you lost your formal robes…”

Asgore scratched and shook his head. “I’m not sure how that happened myself. Me and Clover looked everywhere for them…” He shrugged. “I’ll have to search more thoroughly when I get home…”

“Well, the sweater looks formal enough already, and to be honest, because of his flower shop, I think Asgore would be well known for his father-like personality and appearance.” Frisk explained, making Toriel ease up a bit.

“I suppose that makes a bit of sense.” Toriel sighed.

“I should still keep an eye out for that robe…” Asgore muttered.

Chara sighed and scratched the back of his neck. “It’s not like anyone really pays attention. They mainly show up out of feeling obligated to…” He turned to walk towards the stage. “Most people would rather watch Mettaton’s performance instead…” Toriel and Asgore looked disappointed in Chara’s assessment, but Frisk sighed and began to follow Chara.

“He has a point.” She muttered. “Our speech is nothing special and it only takes up about a half hour of the festival combined.” She turned back to the boss monsters. “If anything we’re just reminding them of what they did to monsters and how it’s not even close to a perfect peace...It’s bittersweet at best…”

Asgore and Toriel exchanged a glance, and then a sigh. “Well, at the very least, it is still thoughtful of them for coming to listen to the speech.” Toriel finally replied. “While I would prefer to get to enjoy the festivities ahead of time, we still have an obligation of our own.”

“Toriel’s right.” Asgore said, slightly inaudible. “At the very least, the fact that people show up to listen to the speeches speaks wonders in/of itself.”

Chara stopped by the stage entrance and gave a soft chuckle. “Well, you got us there…”

“Yeah.” Frisk added. “Anyway, we might as well hype ourselves up for it. After all, once we’re done, we can enjoy the festivities.”

“That is also true.” Chara replied happily.

Asgore chuckled. “Well, I hope you two practiced then!”

The two humans blushed slightly. “We did, don’t worry…” Chara finally squeaked out.

Toriel looked at the two sternly, the illusion only breaking from her smile being more of a teasing nature. “We will be the judge of that.”

* * *

“Why do we have to watch the speech…?” Alyssa wondered out loud. “It’s not even mandatory to watch it!”

“I agree with Alyssa!” Flowey cried out. “What’s the point of us watching it if it’s the same jargon as last year?!”

“Because they’re your friends, and we need to show that we support them!” Luke’s mom said harshly. “Besides, there’s no harm in making sure they can catch up to us quickly.”

“We’re walking with Papyrus and Undnye, we’re practically beacons…” Flowey muttered.

“The weed’s got a point.” Undyne spoke up. “And it’s not like they’ll be upset about it. They’d understand completely.”

“Even so, it’s important to show that we care!” Luke’s mom retorted. Sam raised hand.

“Then why isn’t everyone else in his family here? Wouldn’t it make sense for them to also watch the speech of the people who brought Luke back?"

Luke’s mom raised a brow and hummed. “Oh, that’s, um….” 

“It’s because she has a crush on Asgore.” Luke stated out of the blue, causing everyone to chuckle.

“W-wait, wouldn’t your dad b-be upset about that?” Alphys asked.

“He would, if he didn’t also have a crush on Asgore, but someone needed to make sure the others don’t get into trouble.” Another round of laughter rang out as Kris looked around at the audience, noticing that a lot of kids looked more excited than the parents.

“Looks like the speech is a big hit with the kids…” They muttered.

“explains why cass and alex are the most excited, excluding luke’s mom.” Sans replied, picking at his teeth with his pinky phalange. “but she does have a point. doesn’t hurt to show we care.”

“Just be glad that I don’t stick to Luke like glue after what happened to him...” Luke’s mom said with a bite.

“That’s true.” Clover muttered.

Flowey chuckled. “Yeah, it’s real understandable why’d you be happy about that, Clover!” 

The western dressed teen glared at Flowey. “Watch it…”

Alex rubbed the back of his neck and shivered. “I just felt a chill run down my spine…”

“WELL IT IS NIGHTTIME, AND FALL SO THAT’S UNDERSTANDABLE.” Papyrus replied plainly at Alex’s claim.

“No, that feels different from my current chill.”

Kris raised a brow and looked around. “Oh, that’s probably just-”

“‘SUP NERD!” A purple dinosaur-like monster, with a massive pile of hair partially covering their eyes and wearing punk clothing appeared from nowhere and patted Kris and the back with such force that they nearly collapsed to the floor.

Kris pinched their nose and sighed. “Suzy…”

Suzy wrapped an arm around Kris’ shoulders. “So, Kris, whaddya think of the festival so far?” She asked with a smug tone.

Kris glanced at Suzy with a slight scowl. “You know the answer to that already.” Their voice tired and wry.

Suzy took her arm off of Kris and stared at them with immense disappointment. “You’re no fun.”

“To be fair Suzy,” A meek voice spoke from behind the punk dino. A reindeer monster, with blonde hair, a red, green checkered sweater vest atop a white dress shirt and black skirt appeared from behind Suzy. “You kinda teased them about it last year, and y’know, it’d be rude not to cheer their sister on during her speech.”

Suzy rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, I get it Noelle.”

Noelle nodded and looked to Kris. “So, when you guys are done here, what are you going to do first?”

“Besides ditch your friends to look for Aliza?” Suzy chuckled.

Noelle pinched her nose and sighed. “Suzy…”

“In Suzy’s defense, Aliza does get nervous around monsters.” Alyssa quickly stated.

“Mainly Sans, Undyne and of course, Suzy.” Alex added, earning a nod from all parties listed.

“Honestly, it’s pretty understandable for me and Suzy.” Undyne said, scratching her neck. “We can be pretty intimidating. What I don’t understand fully is Sans, since after the first meeting, he doesn’t really exude any reasons to be nervous.”

“Unless you count his midnight kitchen raids.” Kris said with a chuckle. They turned to Suzy with a slightly serious expression. “But, you have to realize, she just moved here right at the end of summer, so most monsters are going to make her nervous.”

Suzy broke out into a laugh. “Oh man, her face when I snuck up on you guys in the lunchroom the other day!” Suzy broke out into laughter, while Kris just grimaced at the memory. Suzy saw Kris’ face and punch them in the shoulder. “C’mon man, I’m just trying to have fun!”

“well, i doubt your fun is helping her warm up to monsters, kid.” Sans said in a lecturing tone, which he ended the moment he grinned. “when she’s comfortable around monsters is when you should do stuff like that. at least then, all parties can get a laugh.” Papyrus stared down at Sans with disapproval and the shorter skeleton just shrugged.

Suzy hummed in thought. “Eh, maybe you got a point there…”

“Anyway, to answer Suzy’s little comment, I’m not gonna ditch my friends and family just to spend time with one person.” Kris folded their arms. “I see Aliza plenty of times at school and when we hang out. I don’t need to be at her side 24/7.”

Suzy smirked and patted Kris’ shoulder, more gentle than before, but still with plenty of force. “Glad to see you have your priorities straight dude!”

Papyrus tapped Suzy and Kris and the shoulders and held a phalange in front of his mouth. _“SHH! QUIET, THE SPEECH IS ABOUT TO START!”_ Everyone turned their attention to the stage, where Asgore and Toriel walked up to the microphone. Suzy let out a soft chuckle.

_“Not really formal for a king, don't cha think?”_ She whispered to no one in particular.

_“We couldn’t find his formal robes.”_ Clover whispered back. _“So he had to work with what he had.”_

“Some king.” Flowey chuckled, earning a shush from Luke’s mom, who stared up at the stage longingly, earning soft chuckles from Luke and Sam.

Asgore tapped the microphone to ensure it was working properly, the sound echoing throughout the area. Asgore smiled and leaned into the mic. “First off, I’d like to thank you all for coming tonight! It means a lot to many that you’ve decided to come and celebrate the anniversary of the reunion of our races!” A sizable applause rang out from the audience. Asgore stepped back a bit to allow Toriel to speak.

“While there may be some tensions still, the fact remains that the sight in front of us is enough to show that we can have peace!” Toriel smiled. Suzy glanced around, and noticed there were more humans than monsters watching the speech. 

_“I guess most monsters had enough speeches…”_ Sam whispered, having noticed the same thing. Alphys shifted nervously while Undyne did a half shrug.

_“well the last one wasn’t monsters heard wasn’t particularly a nice one, and was just a quick declaration that lasted…”_ Sans tilted his head back and forth with a hum. _“About 2 minutes or so…”_

“Of course, I’m sure you all didn’t come here to listen to two old monsters speak. After all, there are a couple of people who are the sole reason we monsters are able to live on the surface!” Asgore said with a wide smile.

“So, here to give the speech you are all here for, Co-Ambassadors, Chara and Frisk!” Toriel gestured to the two humans, who walked up from behind and made their way to the microphone, the two boss monsters stepping aside. The crowd broke out into an applause, which was quelled with a single raise of Chara’s hand. Frisk cleared her throat.

“Once again we’d like to thank you for taking time out of the festivities to listen to our speech, even though the former may sound more tempting.” A few laughs rang out from the audience, with Frisk hovering a hand near her mouth to keep herself from laughing along.

Chara smiled and leaned into the mic. “Then again, listening to a couple of 15 year olds trying to sound like professional speakers could be considered a festivity, but I digress.” Chara looked out to the crowd and took on a serious expression. “The past 2 years on the surface have been the best two years for monsterkind.” He stated with a somber tone. “While yes, there were a few bumps in the road, they weren’t enough to make us give up hope that we could live in peace. After all, not all endings can start off perfect the moment it happens…” Flowey slowly retreated into his pot. Everyone around him, minus Suzy, Noelle and Luke’s mom noticed and frowned. 

“However, that’s how life is.” Frisk spoke out. “We can’t get all the things we want the moment we want them.” 

_“Not with that attitude, you can’t.”_ Suzy snarked, earning an elbow from Kris and a slightly less noticeable one from Noelle.

“But as they say, ‘Beggars can’t be choosers’, and the fact we got this far is a remarkable feat!” Frisk quickly added with a smile.

“Yes, so far, those here at Ebott are the only ones willing to accept monsters so far, and though it looks and feels like that Ebott may be the only ones, me and Frisk are trying our hardest to get those outside of Ebott to notice that monsters are nothing to fear!” Chara declared.

_“Aw Kris, the three of you have the same mission statement!”_ Alyssa prodded Kris’ arm with an elbow.

_“Their mission is the closest to an actual mission, while my ‘mission’ is just me trying to help a friend.”_ Kris retorted.

_“Yeah, sure, ‘friend’.”_ Suzy let out a soft chuckle, with Noelle sighing and shaking her head, while Luke’s mom shushed them both, Kris didn’t say anything, but instead opted to give Suzy the side-eye. 

Alex tapped Kris’ arm and looked up at them with a smug grin. _“Not so fun, is it?”_

Kris knelt down next to Alex and ruffled his hair with a wide smile. _“Hey, it’s my job as the older sibling to tease you!”_

_“My point still stands.”_ Alex shot back, snickering. 

“But we don’t need to get into specifics.” Frisk calmly said afterwards. “Afterall, the main thing we’re all here for is the festivities.”

“So while we have you all here, we’d just like to say-” Asgore and Toriel stood behind Frisk and Chara, and the four all leaned into the mic with wide smiles.

“ENJOY YOUR NIGHT AT THE FESTIVAL!” The four all took a bow, and the crowd broke out into one last applause. Kris and the others all smiled and, thanks to the combined efforts of Undyne and Papyrus, were the loudest of the audience cheers. When the cheers all died down, the four began to leave the stage.

“Huh, thought that’d be longer.” Suzy commented.

_“Maybe it was because of the waiting time…”_ Noelle theorized. 

“As long as that means we can get to the better stuff, then I'm all for it!” Flowey snarked. A nearby laugh got everyone’s attention, as Suzy, Kris and the six others all groaned. A tall, blue bird monster with a yellow beak, framed glasses and button up shirt appeared from behind Alyssa, still reeling with laughter.

“Ah, it’s refreshing to see someone else thought the speech was a drag as well!” They said proudly at the flower.

Flowey looked at the bird with disdain. “You must be Birdly…” 

“And unfortunately, you're correct…” Kris muttered. “What is it this time, Birdly?”

“Nothing really, other than finally finding someone who believes the whole speech deal is unnecessary.” Birdly responded with a smug tone, earning a growl from Flowey he didn’t hear. “Especially when it’s coming from those two…” Birdly gestured to the now empty stage.

“And what was wrong with the speech?” Cass asked, trying her best to make her words have a bite to them.

“Just the fact that it sounded like an ‘F’ grade english assignment written by an 8 year old.” He looked down at Cass and tilted his head. “Surprised you don’t know what that’s like…”

Cass gasped, resulting in Sam and Undyne stepping in front of her and glaring at the bird. Undyne bared her teeth. “What’s your deal, kid?”

“Other than the fact that ‘your an ‘A+’ student, and that everyone else who doesn’t come close is beneath you?’” Sam added, tapping their foot angrily.

Birdly rolled his eyes and placed a wing on his chest. “It’s not that I think everyone else is beneath me, it’s that Frisk and Chara’s speech was bad, and that, honestly, I don’t see the point of them being ambassadors…”

“WELL, THEY WERE THE MAIN DRIVING FORCE IN OUR FREEDOM.” Papyrus stated matter of factly. “SO IT’S UNDERSTANDABLE WHY’D THEY’D BE CHOSEN FOR THAT ROLE.”

“and, y’know, chara’s the adopted kid of asgore and toriel.” Sans added.

“A-and they were one of th-the main reasons why the amalgamates a-are reunited with their families.” Alphys pitched in.

Birdly scoffed. “It’s not about what they did underground, it’s about what those troublemakers do at school.”

“And what did they do to upset you so much?” Undyne asked, before she stroked her chin and raised a brow. “Actually, now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you at the school before…”

“Makes sense.” Kris spoke up. “You're the gym teacher after all!” Kris and Suzy exchanged a high five at the comment, while Birdly rolled his eyes. He opened his beak to speak up, only for a cloaked figure to appear behind him and promptly shut it with a gloved, floating hand.

“Tra la la, you should learn to appreciate the Ambassadors.” The Riverperson warned. “After all…” They leaned down, and a wide, hollow smile appeared from within the hood. “You wouldn’t be complaining on the **_surface_ **now would you? Tra la la…” They let Birdly go, and the monster left after a quick glare at the group. The Riverperson looked over at Undyne, the hollow smile turning more genuine, before walking into the crowd.

“Um...Okay then…” Undyne squeaked out.

“Wow, I didn’t think they’d get that assertive…” Flowey muttered.

“no kiddn’...” Sans replied, eye sockets hollow. The Co-Ambassadors and boss monsters made their way to the group with smiles on their faces, which quickly turned into concern.

“What happened?” Frisk asked Kris, who sighed and shrugged.

“Birdly being a prick as usual.” They turned to Frisk and smiled. “So, what do ya want to do first?”

* * *

Undyne picked up a wood mallet and approached the test your strength game it belonged to. Frisk and Chara were already writing down theories for how much would be needed to pay for the damages, since it was Undyne. Alphys and Sam stood on the sidelines, ready to both cheer Undyne on, and run for their lives from the resulting flying bell. Undyne lifted the hammer over her head, and with a wide smile, brought it down at a speed that could rival the speed of light, which, as expected, caused not only the mallet to shatter, it also caused the bell to fly up into the sky. Undyne stared up into the sky, admiring her work.

“UNDYNE, I DON’T THINK YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BREAK IT…” Papyrus scratched his skull as he stared the damages down.

“And what, make it think I’m a weakling!?”

“So others can get a chance to use it, Undyne…” Chara muttered.

“Oh, right…” Undyne scratched her head. “Oops…”

Frisk pinched her nose and sighed. “And you wonder why we avoided it last year…” The owner of the game walked up to the Ambassadors with a stern expression. Frisk looked up at them with a tired expression. “How much?”

* * *

Across the way, Clover, Luke, Kris and Alex were trying their hand at a shooting game, trying to knock down as many ducks as possible. Clover was surprisingly not that great at it, only getting 3 ducks knocked over. Luke managed to get at least 9 knocked down while Alex was able to get 6 down, none of them had enough down to get a prize. Alex looked up at Clover with a raised brow. “How are you so bad at this?”

Clover scoffed. “Make the fake gun a revolver and I could’ve gotten more knocked down…” They folded their arms and tapped their foot angrily.

Luke chuckled while patting Clover and the back. “We all have our own strengths, you shouldn’t feel bad about not being able to handle a gun…” Luke gave a smile, while Clover rolled their eyes. 

“Ok then, is there anything you can’t cook?” Clover asked with a devious smile.

Luke tilted their head back and forth while humming. “Um...I have a pretty bad track record when it comes to poultry…” Luke scratched the back of his head. “Thankfully, we found that out before I was old enough to help out in the restaurant…”

“Wouldn’t they help you learn though?” Alex asked, tapping his chin.

“Even with help, I’d somehow mess something up…” Luke folded their arms and stared out into nothing. “Dunno why though…”

Clover hummed and then began to leave the game. “Well, let’s see what the others are up to.”

* * *

In another section of the festival, Cass, Flowey and Kris were treating themselves to some pastries made by Muffet, who, alongside Grillby, took up most of the space for the food stands. Thankfully, the stands they did operate had a diverse range of food and deserts one would expect from a festival, fair or carnival, and that they both had multiple people helping out. Cass and Kris were munching on some chocolate spider donuts while Flowey had a regular, non-spider glazed donut. He looked between the two humans and stuck out his tongue. “I still don’t know how you two are so comfortable eating those…”

“I’m not quite sure either, but it tastes too good for me to care honestly.” Cass replied, taking another bite of her donut. _“You domf really efemf taste the spiders…”_

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Cass.” Flowey lectured before turning his attention to Kris. “What’s your excuse?”

“None really.” Kris replied swiftly. “To be honest, I just focus on the other flavors.”

“Oh…That…” Flowey tilted his head and did a half shrug. “That actually sounds like a pretty decent excuse.”

Kris chuckled as they took another bite. They took care in making sure they chewed down every bit of it and swallowing before speaking again. “But even then, the spiders are actually pretty sparse, and sometimes I don’t even need to follow that rule!”

Flowey gagged. “It’s still made with spiders!” Kris shrugged and Flowey sighed and conceded. “I will never understand you…”

“I’m fine with that!” Kris took finished off their donut and watched the other festival goers. They scratched their chin and tapped their foot. “I wonder what stories some of these people have gone through.”

Flowey chuckled and looked at Kris like they were crazy. “What made you think of that?!”

Kris shrugged and looked out into the crowd. “It just crossed my mind. About how some of these people may have their own stories to tell. Can’t tell you why the thought came to me though.” They sighed and stood up. “Well, I’d hate for the others to lose track of us.”

Flowey and Cass exchanged a worried look. Cass put her mask back on and picked up Flowey’s pot. She looked back to the food stand, and at Muffet. “Can we have Sans back, Ms. Muffet?”

The spider monster glanced up at the hanging skeleton, who fell asleep in his web prison. She shook her head. “Unlike Grillby, I’m not as lenient with his overdue tab.” 

Flowey sighed the longest sigh he’s ever done. “How much does he owe you?” He asked with increasing disinterest.

“About 2846G.” Muffet answered in an instant. The trio looked at the sleeping form of Sans, and weighed their options. They then looked at each other, and sighed.

“Would you be willing to let him go if we promise he won’t come back unless it’s to pay his tab?” Kris asked plainly.

Muffet tilted her head back and forth while humming, before dragged a finger across Sans’ web prison, breaking it open and causing the skeleton to fall to the ground. He sat up and rubbed his eye sockets. “eh, waz goin on?”

“You’re free to go, Sans.” Muffet answered innocently. She jabbed a finger at the skeleton and growled. “Just don’t come back unless it’s to pay your tab…”

The trio pulled Sans away from Muffet and began making their way back to the stage for Mettaton’s performance, with Sans still rubbing his eye sockets. “man, that was the most relaxed i’ve probably been while being held hostage.”

“I just hope you follow through with not going back to Muffet’s _UNLESS_ it’s to pay your damn tab!” Kris warned the blue coded skeleton, who raised his hands in surrender.

“relax, i got the message.”

“You better have, because I refuse to go on a rescue mission to save you from Muffet!” Flowey hissed.

“That’s a mission none of us would live through…” Cass muttered darkly.

Sans shook his head, while Kris chuckled. “Nah, if he gets held hostage by Muffet again, then the best thing to do would be to comfort Papyrus about his brother being lost forever!”

Sans stared at Kris with a sense of betrayal. “wow, rude…”

Kris continued chuckling as they turned their head to face Sans. “Like Cass said, rescuing you from Muffet would be sui-” Kris bumped into a tall figure. “Ow…” They looked up and were face to hollow emptiness with the Riverperson. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

“It is quite alright, Tra la la.” The Riverperson replied calmly.

“My apology still stands…” Kris muttered. They hummed in thought for a second. “Do you mind if I ask, what made you decide to shut Birdly up?”

The Riverperson chuckled, which was a first for the others, while Sans’ eye sockets went pitch black once more. “Mysteries, upon mysteries, repurposed vessel…” They walked off leaving everyone stunned silent.

“What did they just…” Kris watched on with wide eyes at the receding form of the Riverperson. Another figure walked up to them and tapped their shoulder. Kris turned their head to see a girl around their age, in a purple dress with a light blue windbreaker over it, brown hair that reaches just a few inches past the shoulder, plain white socks that reached up to the knee’s and plain black dress shoes. Her face was filled with concern. 

“What was that about?” She asked, keeping a slight distance away from Sans, and only looking at the two other humans and Flowey.

Kris shrugged and scratched their head. “I’m not so sure myself…” 

“They’ve been acting kinda strange, we've noticed.” Flowey said, unprompted. “Usually the Riverperson is calm and collected, but tonight they chewed out that Birdly kid, and, they just kinda…” Flowey tilted his head back and forth. “They’re just extra weird tonight.”

The girl hummed. “Well I don’t know them, so I wouldn’t know I guess.”

“No one really knows them.” Kris replied. “Just that they’re a Riverperson, and they are very cryptic. So seeing them tonight so far is...Unusual, to say the least.” The girl nodded while Kris shook their head. “But ignoring that, how’ve you been enjoying the festival so far, Aliza?”

Aliza chuckled a bit. “Surprising to say the least! I’ve seen it talked about on those ‘MTT’ TV showings, but actually getting to see it all up close is different from just hearing about it, in many ways, to be honest.” Aliza folded her arms, and sighed while she tapped her foot. “When I heard about it, it sounded less like a festival to celebrate the reunion of humans and monsters, and more like a concert…” 

“Last year was a slight mess…” Cass muttered. _“Mettaton…”_

“I’m just glad he’s not hijacking it as much this year…” Flowey sighed. Sans cut his way through the others and looked back at them with his eye sockets still pitch black. 

“we’re gonna miss the performance, so let’s pick up the pace.”

Kris and the others raised a brow, while Aliza backed away slowly. “I’ll um...See you at school, Kris…”

“Ditto.” Kris waved Aliza off and the trio all followed closely behind Sans, exchanging glances at each other, and at the skeleton. _What has him so shaken up?_

* * *

Also making their way back to the stage were Alyssa, Asgore and Toriel. Alyssa was holding on to a stuffed bear while Asgore and Toriel looked around at the festival sights. “I must say, it looks better when Mettaton’s face isn’t stamped onto everything.” Asgore muttered. Toriel sighed and ran a hand down her face.

“I still do not know how he was able to take over last year. It was hardly a way to celebrate a reunion and more of a giant concert.”

“Well he was and still is the biggest sponsor for it.” Alyssa said, squeezing the stuffed bear. “It’s just that last year he sponsored almost everything, so most of the stands had MTT merch along with the regular stuff because of it.” Alyssa turned her head to face the two boss monsters. “Just be glad he still let Frisk and Chara do their speech to remind everyone what the festival was about, AND that he’s letting loose and sticking to a single performance this year.”

Asgore chuckled and stroked his beard. “I suppose that is a good point.”

“I still think he went too far last year…” Toriel muttered.

“And I don’t blame you.” Alyssa replied calmly. “You couldn’t take two steps without seeing either his face or his brand name, and almost everything was colored neon pink and covered in sequins, which really hurt the eyes…” The three walked in silence for a bit, walking into the stage area, where the others were already talking amongst themselves. Asgore and Toriel made their way to Frisk and Chara, who were talking to Papyrus and Undyne, while Alyssa gravitated towards Sam, who was talking with Luke, Clover and Alex.

“I even tried adding monsters to my stories, since now they’ll be considered a realistic possibility, but even then, I can’t write anything based on real life. Only fantasy and science fiction.” Alyssa heard Sam say as she approached them. Alyssa hugged Sam from behind and waved the stuffed bear in their face, causing Sam to chuckle as they took the stuffed bear and turned their head to face Alyssa. “I see you’re the only one here who won a prize so far…”

Alyssa giggled. “Asgore and Toriel kept trying but in the end I was the one to get it, and of course, I figured you would like it!”

“How lucky for me that you have more skill than the rest of us!” Sam quipped as Alyssa shifted to their side with an arm wrapped around them.

“So what were guys talking about?” Alyssa asked.

“Skill sets.” Clover replied. “After playing one of those shooting games and failing at it, we got kinda curious about everyone else’s usual skills.” Clover pointed over their shoulder at Luke. “Luke can’t make anything poultry related and Alex isn’t actually all that great with karate, but he is good at soccer.” Clover hovered a hand over themselves. “I can only understand how to work a revolver. Other guns tend to confuse me.”

“And I can’t write anything in a realistic setting.” Sam stated. “Only fantasy or Sci-fi related.”

“Well those can still have some real life issues in them.” Alyssa patted Sam’s shoulder. “As for me…” Alyssa hummed. “I only really know ballet. Any other dance style trips me up.” Alyssa glanced around. “Where’s Alphys?”

“Checking up on Mettaton and Napstablook.” Sam answered swiftly. “Make sure nothing goes wrong, you know?”

Alyssa nodded. “That makes sense.” The group all nodded and began to make small talk, as Kris, Cass, Flowey and Sans finally showed up. Everyone all met up with each other, and began to converse with each other while waiting for the performance to start. Alphys, along with Mettaton and Napstablook approached the group from the stage. Napstablook, now in a new body, didn’t look too much different from Mettaton, with the most notable differences being the hair, clothes and color choice. While Mettaton was color coded to pink, Napstablook was color coded to sky blue, with their jacket, baseball cap, eyes and legs taking on the color. The ‘SOUL’ was placed dead center of their chest, and their legs were somewhat disconnected from their hips, hovering a few inches away from them. While Mettaton’s legs ended in heels, Napstablook wore white high tops with a blue trim.

“Good evening beauties!” Mettaton announced as they made their way over. Frisk and Chara exchanged a glance while Undyne walked up to Alphys.

“Don’t they have a show to perform?” she asked with slight concern.

“Th-they do, but Napstablook wanted to do something first.” Alphys replied, looking up to Napstablook, who pulled out a camera.

“I was wondering if we could take a picture together.” Napstablook held the camera up.

Frisk raised a brow and tilted her head. “Is there a reason, or did you just want a picture?”

“Mainly just wanted one, but with last year's festival, me and Mettaton haven’t really gotten the chance to interact with you guys so…” Napstablook explained. “If you don’t want to, that’s fine, but I thought I should at least offer.”

“It’ll just be a quick pic!” Mettaton said with a smile. “Plus, we’re going to be busy performing, and may lose sight of you all afterwards, so might as well get it done when we have the chance, right?” Everyone glanced at each other before smiling and nodding.

“We’d love to!” Chara answered, much to the two’s delight.

“Brilliant! Now let’s get a good picture formation!” Mettaton cried out while Napstablook flipped a couple dials to summon a pair of floating hands to hold the camera.

“COME ON GUYS, BRING IT IN!” Papyrus encouraged. 

Frisk and Chara stood dead center in the middle. Asgore and Toriel stood behind them, with Papyrus, Sans and Mettaton next to Toriel, and Napstablook, Undyne and Alphys next to Asgore. Alex, Cass and Flowey stood in front of the two ambassadors, while Kris, Luke and Clover stood next to Frisk, and Alyssa and Sam next to Chara. Mettaton glanced around and shrugged. “Not exactly symmetrical, but I guess that’s how it is.”

“You can’t get ‘em all.” Kris muttered.

“Is everyone ready?” Napstablook asked, earning a nod from the whole group. “Alright, everyone say-” Before Napstablook could finish, a loud, high pitched sound rang out in the air. Everyone looked around, only to realize the sound was right above them. Frisk held out her arms at the sight of a small, white, fluffy object descending upon them. She caught the object, nearly collapsing from the force, and held the culprit in her arms, a hockey puck in their mouth, and wrapped up in Frisk’s old Delta Rune scarf.

Alex beamed at the sight. “TOBY!!! He’s back!” Alex moved from his spot and began petting the dog, who dropped the puck. Undyne stared in disbelief at the dog.

“How did he…?” She looked up into the sky and back down to Toby. “What?!”

Papyrus sighed. “I’M HONESTLY NOT SURPRISED BY TOBY ANYMORE…”

Alex looked over Toby, and noticed the dog slightly trying to hold onto one of his other paws. “It looks like he cramped one of his paws trying to get the puck.”

Frisk pet the dog and held him up in the air. “Aww, poor puppy!” She hugged the dog lightly, while Chara pet Toby’s head. “Don’t worry, we’ll make sure it heals!” Toby barked in response.

“i think he’s happy to hear that.” Sans surmised. “now then, i believe we were taking a picture…”

Napstablook went wide eyed, and panicked. “Ah right! Um, let me just-”

“Wait! Blooky we need to-” The camera snapped the picture, with Mettaton trying to reach over Toriel to get to Napstablook, pushing her head down, and giving her an annoyed look, and Asgore looking on with worry. Undyne and Alphys were staring at Napstablook, with Undyne’s only good eye invisible to the camera. Sans had fallen asleep in the few seconds it took for the picture to be taken, which led to Papyrus looking down at his brother in annoyance. Frisk and Chara were looking on at the chaos behind them, with Cass and Flowey looking at each other with disappointed expressions, and Alex backing away from Toby to try and get back into his spot. Luke and Kris were laughing, with Clover covering their face with a hand. Alyssa was pictured shrugging, with Sam looking at Toby with a confused expression. The only one staring directly into the camera was Toby, whose mouth was slightly curled up into the form of a smile, and one eye was closed in a wink and the fuzzy image of a figure behind the two skeletons, the only clear parts was the slight form of a face, with a wide, toothless smile, with a crack descending into the mouth, and another ascending up the head.

  
  


[ **_THE END_ ** ](https://youtu.be/7FHNcc_k6ns)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap for the main story! Man this whole thing was a new one for me...I had several idea's that had gotten changed around or cut, and honestly, I wasn't actually expecting to get this far, or to get the attention it did. I'm still a total noob when it comes to writing and I though that this would get buried under the countless stories about every single AU Sans meeting each other. The fact that I actually got this far is...Wild to me. I wasn't even expecting to write as much chapters as I did in November!
> 
> But now we're at the end, of the main story. If I have an idea I like that fits this small universe I made, I'll add it to the short story series. Some of those will be canon to this main one, while others would be one offs, like a 'What would this situation be like if it was in 'Blank' universe?' and what not. 
> 
> Speaking of the short story series, I have something planned for Feburary, and my goal for that one is to make one chapter a day, leading up to valentines day (of course)
> 
> Now onto things about this chapter. As you have no doubt noticed, it's the 66th chapter, which is a number largely connected to a certain Royal Scientist, and something that is believed to be a result of said Scientist, is Deltarune. So we get some Deltarune character's, but with some slight changes, since the two universe's aren't exactly the same. Those can range from how the names are spelled, like Suzy and Birdly, to how they might interact with each other, Noelle actually hanging around Suzy and not being quite as nervous about it. You also may have noticed that Aliza from Horrotale made a cameo. This is honestly just because I thought about how interesting the situation would be, if she was around monsters on the surface, without their constant state of hunger. The main gist is that she moved their and most monsters still make her nervous, because monsters were more widely stated to be bloodthirsty by other humans. I didn't want to write a whole story about that concept though, so I may touch upon it in a short story some time.
> 
> Thank you all for being patient with the long breaks that happened with some of the chapters, and thank you for reading! The fact that this didn't crash and burn means a lot to me, and the fact that the comments were all on the positive or neutral was a huge relief for me. When I tagged Frisk as female and Chara as male, I was a little worried for a while. But thankfully, everyone who commented were nice and honestly rather funny at times!
> 
> With that said, this story may be over, but who knows, maybe we'll see Frisk, Chara and Kris again...In another light, in another, darker world...⚐︎☠︎☹︎✡︎ ❄︎✋︎💣︎☜︎ 🕈︎✋︎☹︎☹︎ ❄︎☜︎☹︎☹︎


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